»  fcrt&V^ 


Copyright,  1907,  by  R.  Hill 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


From  the  Library  of 

BENNEHAN  CAMERON 

1854-1925 

Presented  by 
his  daughters 


Isabel  C.  Van  Lennep 

and 

Sally  C.  Labouisse 


/ 

-■ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00022085422 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/diaryofbirthdaydOOdowe 


THE  DIARY  OF  A 
BIRTHDAY   DOLL 


Copyright,  1907,  by  R.  Hill 


And  in  a  second,  from  ribs  to  knees,  I  was  covered  with  icy  water 


THE  DIARY  OF  A 
BIRTHDAY  DOLL 


BY 


ETHEL   C.    DOW 


COLOR   PLATES  BY 

FLORENCE   ENGLAND    NOSWORTHY 

PEN  DRAWINGS  BY 

LOUISE    CLARK    SMITH 


PHILADELPHIA 

EDWARD  STERN  &  CO.,  Inc. 

1908 


Copyright,  1908 

BY 

Edward  Stern  &  Co.,  Inc. 


Press  of 

Edward  Stern  &  Co.,  Inc. 

Philadelphia 


Published  May  1,  1908 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTER  I.      Monday— My  First  Bath 7 

CHAPTER  II.     Tuesday— A  Tea-Party  and  Its  Sad  Result  24 

CHAPTER  HI.    Wednesday— I  Get  a  New  Dress    ....  40 

CHAPTER  IV.  Thursday-Spanked 52 

CHAPTER  V.    Friday— My  Leg  is  Broken  and  Mended  67 

CHAPTER  VI.  Saturday— My  Mamma  Loves  Me      .   .   .  81 


LIST  OF  COLOR  PLATES 


OPPOSITE 
PAGE 


And  in  a  second,  from  ribs  to  knees,  I  was  covered  with  icy 

water 3 

And  I  knew  that  the  skin  on  the  right  side  of  my  chin  would 

be  just  ruined 36 

She  placed  me  flat  on  my  stomach  in  her  lap,  till  I  expected 

my  eyes  would  drop  out  on  the  floor 48 

She  raised  the  hair-brush — and  no,  no,  I  cannot  repeat  the 

rest — cannot,  cannot       62 

She  set  me  down  on  the  floor  and  drew  on  her  slippers  in  a 

flash 72 

m 

Oh,  if  I  could  only  have  talked  at  that  moment ! 82 


The  Diary  of  a  Birthday  Doll 

CHAPTER  I 

MONDAY-MY    FIRST    BATH 

It's  Monday  night,  and  I  suppose  it  must  be  about 
half-past  eight  o'clock,  for  just  half  an  hour  ago  I  heard 
Grandma  Ellis  call  up  into  the  nursery,  where  Mamma 
Lucy  was  busy  kissing  Maud  and  Gladys : 

"Finish  saying  good- night  to  your  dolls,  and  then 
nurse  will  put  you  to  bed.  You  know  it's  your  bed- 
time, dear." 

Maud  and  Gladys  told  me  only  to-day  that  Mamma 
Lucy's  bed -time  is  always  eight  o'clock,  excepting  on 
her  birthday,  when  Grandma  Ellis  gives  her  another 
hour  as  an  extra  birthday  present,  and  poor  Mamma  Lu 
is  always  so  sleepy  that  she  can  only  use  half  of  it. 

Mamma  Lucy  must  be  in  bed  now,  and  Maud 
and  Gladys  are  fast  asleep,  for  their  heads  are  bent 
back  the  least  little  bit — they  were  made  that  way.  I 
hardly  believe  that  I  would  like  to  be  a  sleeping  doll — 
it  must  be  so  very  unpleasant  to  have  to  go  to  sleep 
whether  you're  sleepy  or  not.  It  would  make  me  quite 
dizzy,  I  know,  to  be  clicked  out  of  a  conversation,  and 

7 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

then  suddenly  clicked  into  a  conversation  without  any 
warning,  sometimes  twelve  or  twenty  times  in  one  hour, 
and  so  much  sleep  must  make  a  doll  stupid ;  though  I 
wouldn't  say  a  word  against  Maud  and  Gladys,  who 
have  been  very  kind  and  polite  to  me.  Besides,  I  must 
not  forget  that  I  would  have  been  a  sleeping  doll  myself, 
if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  accident  that  happened  to  me 
when  I  wasn't  quite  complete — and,  most  likely,  I'd  be 
much  happier  now  if  I  were  what  I  was  intended  to  be. 
Indeed,  I'm  not  at  all  happy — though  no  one  could  tell 
it  from  my  face — for  one  of  the  first  duties  that  a  doll 
has  to  learn,  before  she  goes  out  into  the  world,  is  to 
keep  the  same  calm,  quiet  expression  through  all  sorrows 
and  all  joys. 

Everything  is  very  quiet  and  dark  now.  I  wonder 
if  Mamma  Lu  is  dreaming.  I  wonder  if  she's  dreaming 
of  me.  Silly  child  that  I  am.  Of  course  she  isn't. 
Didn't  she  say  that  she  didn't  like  me,  the  very  first 
minute  that  she  saw  me  ?  Haven't  I  been  here  for  two 
whole  days  and  three  long  dark  nights — and  has  she 
given  me  so  much  as  a  good-night  kiss?  If  she's 
dreaming  of  any  one,  she's  dreaming  of  Gladys  and 
Maud.  Oh!  Gladys  and  Maud,  how  lucky  you  are! 
I  wonder  if  you  appreciate  your  good  fortune !  But  I'm 
not  the  least  bit  jealous.     I'm  not !   I'm  not !     It's  horrid 

8 


MONDAY— MY  FIRST  BATH 

to  be  jealous — only — -only — I  wish  Mamma  Lu  would 
love  me  too. 

If  I  were  a  little  girl,  made  of  flesh  and  blood,  and 
feeling  as  sad  as  I  do  now,  I'd  be  crying  out  loud  this 
very  second ;  but  I'm  only  a  bisque  doll,  made  of  hard 
plaster,  and  there's  not  a  single  drop  of  water  in  me  to 
spare  for  one  little  tear.  Anyhow,  it  would  be  quite 
impossible  for  a  real  live  little  girl  to  have  my  troubles, 
because  there's  not  a  single  child  in  this  wide  world 
that  isn't  loved  and  hugged  by  its  mother,  while  my 
mamma — my  mamma — oh !  I  hate  to  say  it,  but  really 
and  truly  (and  Maud  and  Gladys  think  so,  too), 
Mamma  Lu  is  not  so  sweet  and  kind  to  me  as  she 
might  be. 

It  certainly  is  dark  and  quiet  here  in  the  nursery. 
I  have  nothing  to  do  but  just  to  lie  flat  on  my  back  and 
stare  up  at  the  ceiling — and  think,  and  think,  and  think. 
I  wonder  if  it  could  be  possible  for  Teddy  Bear  to  get 
wild  in  the  night  time,  and  break  out  of  the  little  trunk 
that  Mamma  Lucy  has  locked  him  in.  Oh  dear !  I  wish 
I  had  thought  of  that — I'm  really  getting  frightened. 
Wouldn't  it  be  just  dreadful?  I  wish  I  could  wake 
Maud  and  Gladys — I'm  awfully  scared,  lying  here  in  the 
dark.  He  might  catch  me  by  the  hair,  and  scratch  me 
with  his  claws. 

9 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  but  he's  too  much  of  a  gentleman 
to  be  so  rude — I'm  sure  he  is.  Teddy !  Teddy !  Aren't 
you  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to  scratch  me?  Teddy! 
Teddy!  I'll  just  ask  him,  to  make  sure!  Teddy! 
Teddy!  Teddy!  He  won't  answer  me — and  I'm  so 
much  interested  in  him.  Mamma  Lu  isn't  kind  to  him 
either — poor  Teddy.  Teddy!  Teddy!  Teddy  Bear! 
No,  he  won't  answer.  Gladys  and  Maud  told  me 
to-day  that  he  never  would  speak — but  if  he  knew  how 

miserable  I  am,  I'm  sure  he'd Teddy!  Teddy!     No, 

he  won't  answer — and  I've  just  got  to  lie  here  lonely, 
and  think,  and  think. 

I  wonder  how  I'd  be  feeling  now  if  I  hadn't  had 
that  accident  before  I  was  complete.  It  certainly  was 
careless  of  that  girl  over  at  the  factory  to  give  me  one 
blue  eye  and  one  brown  eye  instead  of  a  pair  of  the 
same  color.  How  all  the  girls  working  with  her  laughed 
when  they  saw  me!  That  was  my  first  embarrassment 
— I  get  hot  all  over  whenever  I  think  of  it.  I  was  sup- 
posed to  have  eyes  that  would  open  and  close,  but  by 
the  time  she  had  corrected  her  mistake,  and  fixed  me 
with  a  decent  pair  of  blue  ones,  she  had  poured  so 
much  mucilage  into  my  head  that  my  eyes  were  stuck 
in  tight  forever.  I  was  rather  confused  at  the  time,  and 
didn't  quite  know  what  "was  happening;  it  was  only  a 

10 


MONDAY— MY  FIRST  BATH 

long  time  after,  lying  in  the  darkness  of  a  narrow  card- 
board box  in  the  toy  store,  thinking,  thinking,  and 
waiting  to  be  sold — that  I  understood.  The  girl  had 
changed  my  character  completely.  Instead  of  an  "aris- 
tocratic" sleeper,  I  had  become  an  ordinary  "wide- 
awaker" — not  that  I  mind  it  in  the  least — and  I'm  sure 
that  a  "sleeper"  cannot  be  nearly  so  clever  as  a  "wide- 
awaker ; '  but  when  I'm  lying  here  all  alone  in  the  dark, 
I  sometimes  think  that  it  would  be  sweet  to  close  my 
eyes  for  a  second,  just  to  forget  that  I  am  a  mistake,  and 
that  my  Mamma  Lu  does  not  love  me.  And  she 
would  love  me  if  I  were  a  "sleeper;'  she  as  much  as 
said  so   when  she  first  saw  me. 

It  was  last  Saturday,  wasn't  it,  that  Mamma  Lucy's 
Uncle  Harry  bought  me  and  took  me  away  from  the 
store?  He's  my  Great  Uncle  Harry  Ellis,  of  course — 
though  I  didn't  know  the  relationship,  nor  his  name, 
then.  I  was  glad  to  get  away,  even  though  I  had  had 
quite  pleasant  times  there,  because  I'm  always  anxious 
for  something  new.  I  could  always  hear  what  was 
said,  and,  oh !  the  funny  remarks  that  I  did  hear !  I'll  have 
enough  to  do,  for  the  rest  of  my  life,  just  remembering  the 
odd  things  that  happened  in  that  store!  It  was  about 
half-past  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  I  heard 
Uncle  Harry's  voice,  saying:  "I'd  like  a  doll,  please." 

11 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

"Yes,  sir!  Blue  eyes  or  brown  eyes?  Which  style 
would  you  like  me  to  show  you?" 

"Oh,  any  doll  will  do.  Blue  eyes,  I  guess.  You 
needn't  bother  about  showing  it  to  me,  I  don't  intend  to 
nurse  it  myself.  Just  wrap  it  up  for  me  and  that  will 
do.     All  dolls  look  alike  to  me." 

I  heard  a  laugh,  and  the  storekeeper's  answer: 
"The  young  ladies  manage  to  find  quite  a  difference, 
sir ! "  and  just  as  I  was  wondering  who  would  be  chosen, 
I  was  whisked,  box  and  all,  off  my  shelf  and  Uncle 
Harry  was  carrying  me,  head  downwards,  at  a  quick 
trot,  in  the  cold  night  air,  away  to  my  new  home. 

I  was  quite  dizzy  at  the  end  of  a  few  minutes,  and 
nearly  fainted  before  the  walk  was  over.  How  strange 
it  is  that  people  cannot  understand  that  carrying  a  doll 
upside  down  upsets  her  stomach  dreadfully.  Now 
Uncle  Harry,  Maud  and  Gladys  told  me,  is  supposed 
to  be  very  clever,  and  is  even  going  to  be  a  doctor  next 
June ;  yet,  for  over  ten  minutes,  he  persisted  in  swinging 
me  by  the  feet.  A  nice  doctor  he'll  make !  But  I'm 
not  angry  at  Uncle  Harry.  He's  only  one  of  those 
dozens  and  dozens  that  think  a  doll  has  no  feelings. 
No  feelings?  Ha,  ha!  Oh,  Mamma  Lu!  maybe  you 
think  I  had  no  feelings  last  Saturday  night,  when  you 
clapped  your  hands  with  delight  at  Uncle  Harry's  jolly 

12 


MONDAY— MY  FIRST  BATH 

news,  "I've  brought  a  doll  for  you,  Lucy,"  and  then 
sobbed  as  soon  as  you  had  seen  me :  "  Oh — oh — oh — 
I  don't  like  her!  Look  what  funny  eyes  she's  got! 
And  she  can't  close  them !  I  don't  want  a  doll  that's 
not  a  'sleeper,'  Uncle  Harry,  and  oh!  she's  not  a  bit 
pretty."  1  have  no  feelings?  I  have  no  feelings?  If 
you  had  only  known  how  I  felt !  Lucy's  mamma  (my 
Grandma  Ellis)  said,  sharply,  "  'Sh !  Lucy,  that  isn't  nice 

of   you.     If   you  talk  like  that  you 
will  hurt  your  Uncle  Harry's  feel- 
Grandma    Ellis    is    very    sweet, 
but  it  never  struck  her  that  Mamma 
Lu  was  hurting  my  feelings.    Oh ! 
nobody  ever  thinks  of  a  doll's 
feelings ! 

"And  she  has  no  clothes," 
Mamma  Lucy  screamed. 
I  don't  want  a  dolly  that 
has  no  clothes!' 

"That's  right,"  said 
Uncle  Harry,  "she  has 
no  clothes.  I  never  no- 
ticed that."  Then  I  took 
a  peep  around  the  room 

13 

a 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 


and  saw  him  standing  by  the  fireplace,  scratching  the 
back  of  his  neck  and  looking  very  red  and  foolish — 
even  though  he  is  so  clever  and  will  be  a  doctor  by 
next  June.  I  saw  Grandpa  Ellis,  a  very  handsome 
man,  about  thirty  years  old,  laughing  in  a  corner 
and  shaking  his  finger  at  Uncle  Harry,  and  Grandma 
Ellis,  a  sweet  looking  woman  with  golden  hair 
and  blue  eyes,  was  holding  me  on  her  arm  and  my 
Mamma  Lu  on  her  lap,  and  saying:  'Why  she's  a 
mighty  pretty  dolly,  Lucy.  Now  don't 
be  naughty !  Go  over  to  Uncle  Harry 
and  tell  him  that  it  was  sweet  of  him 
to  think  of  you.  Go  over,  dear,  and 
thank  him  nicely."  And  then  my  dear 
Mamma  Lu  cuddled  her  head  into 
Grandma's  neck  in  just  the 
way  I'd  like  to  cuddle  into 
my  Mamma's  round  white 
little  neck — sniffed  three  times 
(Oh!  she's  got  the  cutest  little 
turned-up  nose  to  sniff  with),  went 
very,  very  slowly  over  to  Uncle 
Harry,  said:  "Thank  you,  Uncle 
Harry.  I — I — guess — thanks,  Uncle 
Harry,"  and  then  she  ran  very 
14 


MONDAY— MY  FIRST  BATH 

quickly  over  to  her  papa,  and  he  took  her  on  his  lap 
and  kissed  her. 

Mamma  Lu  went  to  bed  in  about  ten  minutes  after 
that,  and  she  carried  me  upstairs  into  the  nursery,  and 
left  me  all  night  alone,  in  the  long  dark  box.  How  I 
felt  that  Saturday  night !  I  wouldn't  want  the  meanest 
little  doll  on  earth  to  feel  one  hundredth  part  as  sad  as 
I  felt,  not  even  for  the  one  hundredth  part  of  a  second. 

"It's  not  my  fault  that  I  have  queer  eyes,"  I  sobbed. 
"  Please  don't  be  angry  at  me,  Mamma  Lu  ! "  and  again 
and  again,  in  the  darkness  of  the  box,  "  Please  don't  be 
angry  at  me,  I'm  so  sorry  I'm  a  disappointment." 

Let  me  see.  Yesterday  was  Sunday,  wasn't  it  ?  and 
it  was  yesterday  that  I  had  that  unpleasant  bath.  I 
was  just  saying  'I'm  so  sorry,"  for  maybe  the  fifty 
millionth  time — for  you  can  say  '  Please  don't  be  angry 
at  me ' '  a  great  many  times  in  one  night,  if  you  keep  at 
it  steadily  and  don't  take  too  many  long  breaths 
between — when  suddenly  I  felt  the  lid  of  the  box  being 
taken  off.  A  beam  of  sunlight  flashed  into  my  eyes, 
and  I  saw  my  darling  Mamma  Lu  in  her — in  her — 
without  a  petticoat,  looking  down  at  me.  Oh,  but  I  was 
glad  for  the  moment  that  I  wasn't  a  sleeping  doll !  for 
had  I  been,  and  lying  flat  on  my  back  with  closed  eyes, 
I  couldn't  have  seen  her  so  quickly. 

15 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

She  took  me  around  the  waist  and  looked  at  me 
very  carefully,  and  said  very,  very  slowly:  "Well,  I 
don't  think  you'd  be  so  bad,  if  only  you  wouldn't  stare 
so.  Now  listen,  dolly !  I'm  going  to  call  you  just  Dolly, 
until  I  make  up  my  mind  what  your  name's  going  to 
be.  We  are  all  going  out  to  Grandma's  to-day  ('my 
Great  Grandmother,'  I  said  to  myself),  and  I  want  to 
take  you  along  with  me,  to  see  how  you  behave  in  com- 
pany. I'll  ask  Gladys  to  lend  you  her  pink  ribbon  and 
pink  dress,  and  I  guess  I'll  give  you  a  bath."  'Gladys?" 
thought  I,   "  who's  that?" 

She  put  me  back  in  the  box  and  I  was  quite  happy. 
'Of  course  she's  going  to  love  me,"  I  said  to  myself, 
'she  was  sleepy  last  night  and  didn't  know  what  she 
was  saying.  She's  so  sweet  that  she  loves  everybody, 
I'm  sure."  I  couldn't  see  anything  except  a  patch  of 
ceiling  just  over  my  head ;  but  I  heard  the  rattling  of 
porcelain  bowls  and  the  splash  of  water  and  the  open- 
ing of  drawers,  and  Mamma  Lu,  saying,  "Oh,  nurse 
will  be  angry  that  I've  wet  the  carpet,"  and  the  pushing 
of  chairs,  and  I  guessed  that  Mamma  Lucy  was  pre- 
paring a  bath  for  me. 

It  must  have  been  very,  very  early — even  the  servants 
weren't  up  yet,  for,  excepting  the  noises  that  Mamma 
Lu  made,  the  house  was  perfectly  still. 

16 


MONDAY— MY  FIRST  BATH 

Soon  she  came  up  to  me  with  a  towel  tucked  about 
her  waist,  saying,  "Oh,  my!  that  bowl  was  heavy. 
Now,  Dolly,  don't  cry!     Take  your  bath  like  a  lady." 

Cry?  I  was  just  too  happy  to  say  a  word.  She 
picked  me  up  and  threw  me  over  her  shoulder,  carried 
me  over  to  my  tub — a  bowl  half-filled  with  water — 
resting  on  a  great  green  wooden  chair,  and  then — I'm 
not  vain,  and  I'm  not  so  perfectly  wild  over  clothes  as 
some  dolls  are ;  but  at  that  moment  I  almost  fell  out  of  my 
Mamma's  arms,  in  my  delight.  For,  hanging  over  the 
back  of  that  great,  green  chair  was  the  sweetest  pink 
Mother  Hubbard  dress,  with  white  frills  at  the  neck  and 
sleeves ;  and,  oh,  how  often  I  have  longed  for 
just  such  a  neat  little  gown!  Mamma  Lu 
slipped  a  pink  ribbon  under  some  of  my  hair 
and  tied  a  bow.  It's  not  nice  to  be  vain,  but 
I  certainly  did  feel  proud.  Then  she  held 
me  up  in  front  of  her,  screwed  her  mouth 
towards  the  right  side,  half  closed  her  right 
eye,  and  said:  "You'll  do.  Pink  is 
your  little  girl's  color,  that's  certain." 
Whatever  did  she  mean  by 
that  ?  Maybe  the  dressmaker  or 
nurse  once  said  that  to  Grandma 
Ellis  about  my  Mamma  Lu. 

17 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

'One,  two,  three!'  my  Mamma  kept  on,  and 
indeed  I  listened  carefully,  "in  you  go  into  the  tub,'* 
and  in  a  second,  from  ribs  to  knees,  I  was  covered  with 
icy  water.  She  threw  me  in  so  quickly  and  the  shock 
was  so  great  that  I  couldn't  help  splashing,  and  great 
drops  fell  on  her  bare  little  legs. 

"O  you  naughty!'  she  cried.  "Ugh!  it's  cold." 
She  let  go  of  me  suddenly  to  stretch  out  her  hand  for 
the  towel ;  of  course,  I  lost  my  balance — I  haven't  had 
much  practice  at  sitting — and  toppled  right  over.  My 
hair  dipped  deep  into  the  water  and  my  silk  ribbon,  my 
pretty  pink  silk  hair  ribbon,  got  soaking  wet. 

"  Oh  !  Oh ! '  cried  Mamma  Lu,  "  you  naughty  child, 
what  have  you  done?  There's  poor  Gladys's  prettiest 
ribbon  just  ruined !  That's  not  the  way  to  make  your 
sisters  love  you,  to  go  and  spoil  the  pretty  ribbons  that 
they  lend  you.  I'm  surprised,  I'm  simply  surprised  at 
you,  and  I'm  awfully  afraid  that  you're  going  to  be  a 
naughty  child ! ' 

Oh,  how  ashamed  I  did  feel;  but  it  really  wasn't 
my  fault.  I  was  not  to  blame,  was  I,  if  I  hadn't  been 
taught  to  sit  up  like  a  lady?  I  do  think  my  Mamma 
needn't  have  scolded  me  quite  so  much,  because  it  was 
bad  enough  for  me  to  know  that  the  very  first  ribbon 
that  I  ever  put  on  was  "simply  ruined,"  and  to  feel  my 

16 


MONDAY— MY  FIRST  BATH 


hair  all  gummy  and  pasty,  sticking  to  my  wet  neck.  If 
it  hadn't  been  for  the  peeps  that  I  got  at  that  pretty  pink 
Mother  Hubbard,  I'd  have  felt  perfectly  miserable. 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  do  with  you,"  said  Mamma 
Lu,  very  strictly;  "but  I  suppose  I'll  have  to  forgive 
you.  Now  do  sit  up  and  behave  yourself,  and  if  you 
get  some  soap  in  your  eyes  just  remember  that  soap  in 
the  eyes  is  very  good  for  the  stomach,  nurse  says  so, 
and  don't  complain.  Sit  still  and  don't  wriggle  now. 
There — ■*"  and  in  a  second  I  was 
quite  blinded  with  some  soft  biting 
stuff  rubbed  all  over  my  face  with 
a  sponge. 

I  had  just  got  my  breath  back 
enough  to  cry  out : 
"  Please,  Mamma  Lu, 
please  hurry!  Oh,  this 
is  simply  awful !  Please 
hurry!  please,  please!' 
when  I  heard  the  open- 
ing of  a  door  and  a 
scolding  voice,  "  Miss 
Lucy,  I'll  tell  your  Mam- 
ma on  you!  What  do 
you  mean  by  getting  out 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

of  bed  at  this  hour  and  messing  up  the  nursery? 
And  not  a  blessed  thing  on !  You'll  catch  your  death 
of  cold."  Now  this  wasn't  quite  true.  Mamma  Lu 
had  shoes  and  stockings  on  and  a  shirt  and  a  towel 
and  ever  so  many  other  things.  I  was  the  one  that 
was  in  danger  of  catching  my  death  of  cold,  though 
of  course  no  one  ever  thought  of  me.  "  It's  the  trial  of 
my  life,  being  your  nurse,  I  tell  you,"  and  then  the  nurse, 
a  big  girl  not  at  all  sweet  or  pretty,  rushed  up  and  shook 
her  finger  about  twenty  times  a  second  so  close  to  my 
dear  Mamma's  cute  nose  that  if  the  finger  had  been  the 
least  bit  longer,  there  would  have  been  an  awful  collision, 
I'm  sure. 

"Look  what  you've  done  to  the  chair!'  cried  the 
nurse.  "The  soap's  gone  and  taken  all  the  paint  off 
the  seat  ('No  wonder!  that  soap  is  mean  enough  for 
anything,*  I  thought),  and  see  how  you've  splashed  the 
carpet !  Well,  I  never !  Now  just  you  stand  there  and 
don't  budge  till  I  come  back  with  a  cloth  to  wipe  it  up, 
and  take  care  that  you  don't  get  into  any  more  mischief ! ' 
and  she  bounced  out  of  the  room. 

I  peeped  up  at  Mamma  Lu,  dear  Mamma  Lu. 
She  was  almost  crying — one  finger  was  stuck  deep  in 
her  mouth.  "I  didn't  mean  to  do  any  wrong,"  she 
mumbled,  not  very  plainly,  because  the  finger  blocked 

20 


MY  FIRST  BATH 

the  words,  "  and  you  shouldn't 
scold  so.  You're  a  mean  old 
ing!  So  there!'  Then  she 
turned  to  me,  "And  you're  a 
mean  old  thing  too !  and 
I'm  not  going  to  take 
you  with  me  to  Grand- 
ma's. You  don't  know 
how  to  behave  yourself." 
Well,  I  never  was  so 
shocked  in  my  life.  What 
had  I  done  to  Mamma 
Lu?  She  rubbed  the 
soap  quickly  off  my  face,  and  then,  'I'm  going  to 
put  you  in  your  box  for  punishment  till  to-morrow 
morning.  And  see  to  it  that  you  don't  get  into  any 
more  mischief.  You're  a  terrible  trial,"  she  said,  All 
wet  and  shivering  as  I  was,  and  without  giving  me  a 
chance  for  one  last  little  peep  at  the  gown  I  was  not  to 
wear,  she  hurried  me  into  my  box  and  clapped  the  lid 
on.  "Oh,  Mamma  Lu!'  I  said  again  and  again  and 
again,  "  I  didn't  mean  to  do  any  wrong.  You  know  it's 
not  my  fault.  But  I  don't  call  you  a  mean  old  thing, 
because  you  just  didn't  think  what  you  were  doing. 
Oh,    that    pretty    dress!      What     a     disappointment! 

21 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

Mamma  Lu,  how  could  you  treat  me  so  ?"  and  all  day 

long  I  lay  and  thought,  "Oh,  Mamma  Lu!  how  could 

v* 
you/ 

That  happened  yesterday,  didn't  it?  And  to-day — 
oh,  yes,  to-day — Mamma  Lu  took  me  out  of  my  box 
and  introduced  me  to  Gladys  and  Maud.  They  sleep 
in  one  bed  and  she  put  me  between  them,  'to  get 
acquainted,'*  she  said !  That  was  thoughtful  of  Mamma 
Lu.  Maud  and  Gladys  are  really  very  sweet  tempered, 
it's  no  wonder  that  Mamma  likes  them.  She  propped 
them  up  on  pillows,  to  keep  them  awake,  and  from 
half-past  eight,  when  she  left  for  school,  till  half-past 
two,  when  she  came  home,  those  girls  did  nothing  but 
talk. 

I  know  everything  about  everyone  now.  My !  what 
heaps  and  heaps  of  stuff  didn't  they  rattle  off  into 
my  ears,  and  I  was  feeling  so  sad  all  the  time,  just 
because  Mamma  Lu  had  kissed  them  before  she  left, 
and  had  only  said,  'Now  be  good,"  to  me  for  a 
good-by.  Even  Gladys  and  Maud  thought  it  was 
rather  mean  of  her,  and  I  must  say — oh,  well,  it's  not 
nice  to  complain,  and  I  tried  hard  not  to  feel  hurt 
when  she  tucked  Maud  and  Gladys  in  so  lovingly 
to-night  and  said  to  me,  "  Now  be  sure  you  don't  dis- 
turb them."     She  stayed  in  the  nursery  only  a  short 

22 


MONDAY— MY  FIRST  BATH 

while  after  school,  and  just  ran  in  after  supper  again  to 
saY>  "good-night."  "I've  a  cold,"  she  told  us,  "and 
Mamma  wants  me  to  stay  near  her  all  the  time  to  be 
sure  that  I  don't  catch  another."  I  do  hope  that  the 
water  I  splashed  on  her  yesterday  didn't  give  it  to  her. 
Poor  Mamma !  her  little  nose  is  so  very  red  and  swollen. 
I  believe  that  I'm  tired  of  thinking.  I  wish  Teddy — 
but  there's  no  use  calling  to  him.  I'm  sure  he  won't 
answer.  Teddy!  Teddy!  I  say,  Teddy — y — y — y! 
No !  Oh,  dear !  I  think  I'll  begin  to  count  to  make  the 
night  pass  quickly.  "One,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six, 
seven " 


23 


CHAPTER  II 

TUESDAY— A  TEA  PARTY  AND  ITS  SAD  RESULTS 

I  was  just  saying  nine  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
million,  six  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand,  three 
hundred  and  three,  when  Mamma  Lu  walked  in  to  say 
"Good-morning," — and  I  had  reached  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  million,  six  hundred  and  thirty-five  thou- 
sand, three  hundred  and  seventeen  before  I  could  stop. 
When  youVe  been  counting  steadily,  as  I  had,  all  night 
long,  you  get  to  have  a  tight,  wound-up  sort  of  feeling, 
and  it  takes  a  few  seconds  before  you  can  roll  back  and 
stop. 

Well,  looking  back  over  the  day,  I  can  say  that,  on 
the  whole,  it  went  off  fairly  well.  It  was  interesting 
anyhow,  and  started  out  beautifully.  When  Mamma 
Lu  came  in  this  morning,  she  rushed  to  the  bed  in 
which  were  Maud  and  Gladys  and  me  (oh  dear !  there's 
my  grammar  wrong!  I  really  must  be  more  careful; 
that  will  never  do) — in  which  were  Maud  and  Gladys 
and  I,  made  one  big  armful  of  us,  and  hugged  all  of  us 
together.  It  is  true  that  meanwhile  Maud  got  a  bump 
from  the  right  side  of  my  head,  and  Gladys  one  from 

24 


TUESDAY— A  TEA  PARTY 

the  left,  while  I  could  count  a  bump  from 
each  as  my  share;    but  Maud  and  Gladys 
were  still  three-quarters  asleep,  and  didn  t 
feel  the  knock,  and  I  count  two  bumps 
a  very,  very  cheap  price  for  a  hug  from 
my  dear  mamma,  though  they  were  a 
little  painful,  I  must  say. 

"  You  dears ! "  she  shouted,  "  I've  got 
such  an  awfully  bad  cold  that  I  can't  go 
to    school    to-day.      Mamma    says    so. 
Oh — oh — oh ! '    and  then  she  picked  me  up 
out  of   the  bed  and  positively  kissed   me, 
just  on  the  nose.     "  It's   through   you   that 
I've  got  to  stay  home,"  she  whispered  into 
my  ear;  "that  cold  water  you  splashed  on 
me  Sunday  gave  me  a  cold,  you  darling ! ' 

There — I  always  thought  that  my  Mamma  Lu  was 
an  angel,  and  now  I  have  perfect  proof.  She  has  a  red, 
swollen  nose  through  my  clumsiness,  and  has  had  to 
stay  away  from  school.  Think  of  that !  And  she's  not 
only  forgiven  me,  but  even  called  me  darling !  She  cer- 
tainly is  a — oh !  I  don't  know  what  to  call  her — sweetness ! 
She  kept  on  petting  me  so  sweetly.  "  You  poor  child ! 
You  haven't  even  a  *  nighty'  on.  I'll  fix  you  all  right, 
though ;  I'm  going  to  have  a  tea  party,  to  celebrate,  and 

25 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

I'll  dress  you  in  Maud's  best  blue  dress  and  ribbon. 
Now,  how  will  that  suit  you?  Maud  won't  care,  will 
you,  Maudie  }"  And  Maud,  who  is  very  sweet-tempered, 
didn't  object  in  the  least.  I  believe  I  like  her  even  better 
than  Gladys,  though  Gladys,  too,  is  a  perfect  lady.  I 
must  say  that  both  girls  have  been  very  nice  to  me  so 
far  about  clothes.  They  told  me  yesterday,  in  our  long 
talk  together,  that  I  can  count  anything  they  have  as 
mine,  until  I  get  fitted  out,  and  they  have  never  made 
any  of  the  slighting  remarks  that  lots  of  dolls  would 
have  made,  I'm  sure,  about  the  miserable  condition  in 
which  I  entered  into  their  family.  Imagine!  I  hadn't 
a  stitch  to  my  back.  Gladys,  indeed,  said  once — but 
I'm  sure  it  was  only  a  thoughtless  remark,  and  in  no 
way  intended  to  hurt  my  feelings,  so  I  won't  repeat  it. 
No,  I  won't  think  of  it;  I  won't,  I  won't! 

Well,  Mamma  Lu  took  me  on  her  lap  and  began  to 
dress  me,  and  I  certainly  enjoyed  myself.  That  blue 
dress  of  Maud's  fitted  me  perfectly;  she  has  just  my 
figure ;  but  though  it  was  very  handsome,  I  didn't  like  it 
as  much  as  that  sweet  little  pink  Mother  Hubbard  of 
Gladys's.  I  certainly  do  like  a  neat  little  dress.  I  had 
a  blue  ribbon  in  my  hair,  too ;  Maud  was  all  in  white, 
and  Gladys  in  pink  (my  pink).  It  took  all  morning  to 
wash  and  dress  me.    Thank  heaven,  my  stomach  must 

26 


27 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

have  been  all  right  this  morning,  because  Mamma  Lu 
didn't  put  soap  into  my  eyes  to  cure  it !  Gladys  said 
that  she  and  Maud  get  that  medicine  only  when  Mamma 
Lu's  left  foot  steps  out  of  bed  before  her  right.  I  wanted 
to  know  on  which  side  Mamma  Lu  generally  slept,  and 
Gladys  giggled  and  Maud  looked  shocked.  I  really 
think  that  Gladys  is  a  little  spiteful  sometimes. 

We  were  just  about  dressed  when  Mamma  Lu  was 
called  down  to  dinner.  "  Now  be  good  and  don't  muss 
yourselves,"  she  warned  us  before  going;  "I  don't  want 
to  have  to  dress  you  again  for  the  tea  party."  And  then 
she  laid  us  very  carefully  across  the  bed.  Maud  and 
Gladys  went  to  sleep  at  once,  of  course ;  but  I,  as  always, 
was  wide  awake,  very  happy  and  excited.  Then  I 
thought  of  Teddy,  all  alone  in  his  box,  with  no  pretty 
blue  dress  on,  and  no  ribbon  in  his  hair,  and  I  felt  so 
sorry. 

"Teddy,"  I  called,  "Teddy!  Teddy!  Won't  you 
speak  to  me  ?  I'm  a  new  child  of  Mamma  Lucy's ;  I've 
been  here  only  three  days,  and  up  to  this  morning  I've 
been  so  miserable.  You'd  have  been  sorry  for  me  if 
you'd  have  known,  Teddy.  If  you  want  me  to,  I'll  tell 
you  all  about  it.  Oh,  I  do  wish  you'd  answer !  We  are 
going  to  have  a  tea  party  this  afternoon ;  I  wish  you  were 
invited,  Teddy!     Can't  you  answer?    Teddy!    Do  you 

28 


TUESDAY— A  TEA  PARTY  AND  ITS  RESULTS 

hear  me?  Oh,  you  are  the  most  provoking — "  and 
I  just  made  up  my  mind,  then  and  there,  that  I  wouldn't 
bother  any  more  about  him  until  he  began  to  talk  to 
me.     He  needn't  have  been  so  stiff. 

Mamma  Lu  came  running  up  very  soon  to  arrange 
the  table  and  the  chairs  and  to  prepare  the  tea.  I  was 
so  glad  then  that  I  wasn't  a  "sleeper,"  because  I  expected 
to  have  heaps  of  fun  watching  her  get  things  ready. 

"I'm  having  such  a  good  time,"  she  said,  running 
over  to  us,  "I  just  wish  I  had  a  cold  every  day."  I  was 
rather  glad  then  that  Gladys  and  Maud  were  asleep  and 
couldn't  hear  her,  because,  of  course,  she  didn't  really 
mean  what  she  said.  It's  bad  enough  to  have  to  miss 
school  for  one  day,  indeed !  I'm  quite  sure  she  was 
just  pretending,  so  that  I  shouldn't  feel  too  sorry  that  I 
had  given  her  the  cold — dear  Mamma  Lu ! 

"  One  whole  banana  I've  got  for  hash  and  fourteen 
white  grapes,  to  make  grape-tea  with,  and  half  of  a  great 
big  orange,  and  six  five  o'clock  teas,  and  four  Nabiscos!" 
My  mamma  just  clapped  her  fat  little  hands  with  joy. 
"  Now,  aren't  we  going  to  have  a  glorious  time?  I  guess 
I'll  make  the  tea  first ; "  and  she  sat  down  on  a  little  rock- 
ing-chair next  to  the  bed,  and  began  to  squeeze  great 
big  hothouse  grapes  into  a  beautiful  little  porcelain 
pitcher,    painted    all  over  with  violets.      Then  I  could 

29 


DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

hardly  believe  my  eyes  at  first,  and 
thought  that  I  was  seeing  queer  things 
because  of  that  accident  before  I  was 
complete;  but  I  saw    only   too  well. 

And  oh,  how  Grandma  Ellis 

would  have  felt  if  she  had 
been  there,  for  it  is  such  an  unladylike 
greedy  thing  for  a  little  girl  to  do !  Why 
then,  Mamma  Lu  actually  chewed 
the  skins!  I  was  very  sorry;  I  hadn't 
expected  it  of  her.  Somehow  it  took 
away  a  bit  of  the  pleasure  of  the  tea 
party.  After  the  grape-tea,  my  mamma 
made  banana-hash,  and  very  nicely  indeed  did  she  make 
it,  chopping  it  into  little  squares,  mashing  it  into  a  paste, 
moistening  it  with  milk  from  another  sweet  violet  pitcher, 
and  sprinkling  cinnamon  and  sugar  all  over  it  till  I'm 
sure  it  must  have  had  a  splendid  taste.  I  didn't  eat  any 
of  it.  She  mashed  her  finger  only  once,  too,  during  all 
that  time,  and  then  she  didn't  cry  either.  Oh,  my 
mamma's  all  right;  indeed  she  is! 

In  about  twenty  minutes,  we  were  sitting  around  the 
tea  table,  Mamma  Lu  in  her  little  rocking-chair  at  the 
head,  and  Maud  and  Gladys  and  I  in  little  high-backed 
chairs. 
30 


TUESDAY— A  TEA  PARTY  AND  ITS  RESULTS 

"Now,  wasn't  it  nice  of  nurse,*'  said  Mamma  Lu, 
"  to  give  us  so  much  for  our  tea  party  ?  If  mamma  had 
been  home,  I  couldn't  have  had  a  banana;  I'm  certain 
sure  I  couldn't.  Now  if  you  all  behave  yourselves,  we'll 
have  a  real  good  time.  I  do  hope  nurse  forgets  about 
my  cough-medicine.  It's  such  nasty  stuff,  and  I've  got 
to  drink  the  whole  bottleful." 

She  screwed  up  her  little  face,  and  wagged  her  red 
tongue  up  and  down,  and  then  cried:  "Oh  my,  that's 
not  manners,  and  this  is  going  to  be  a  real  elegant  tea 
party!  Maud  and  Gladys,  you  and  I  are  ladies,  and 
Dolly's  my  little  girl.  Now,  Dolly,  don't  forget  that 
children  must  be  seen  and  not  heard.  Miss  Maud, 
won't  you  have  some  grape-tea  ?  This  is  simply  fine. 
I'm  sure  you'll  like  it,  if  you'll  only  try  it.  That's  right, 
just  help  yourself;"  and  with  that,  Mamma  Lu  swal- 
lowed a  great  big  cupful  of  tea.  Uncle  Harry  gave  her 
her  dishes,  Maud  told  me.  It's  a  good  thing  that  we 
dolls  never  have  any  appetite,  for  we  certainly  didn't 
get  anything  to  eat  at  that  tea  party.  It  was  like  this  all 
afternoon. 

'Now,  Miss  Gladys,  you  mustn't  say  'no.'  That 
banana-hash  is  very  good.  Yes,  I  can't  complain  of  my 
cook.  Here,  let  me  put  some  on  your  plate,"  and 
Mamma  Lu  would  put  a  heaping  teaspoonful  on  her 

31 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

own  plate  and  then  pop  it  into  her  own  little  anxious 
mouth. 

Or,  'Dolly,  you  may  have  a  Nabisco.  Here  it  is," 
and  Mamma  Lu  would  reach  over  for  a  Nabisco. 

"Now,  don't  eat  it  too  quickly"  (bite  one).  "  Don't 
sprinkle  the  crumbs  all  over  your  dress '  (bite  two). 
"Do  you  have  much  trouble  in  keeping  your  children 
clean,  Miss  Maud  ?"  (bite  three).  "  How  ever  do  you 
manage  with  help  ?"  (bite  four) — and  so  on  till  the 
Nabisco  was  safely  down.  Once,  I  mustn't  forget, 
Mamma  Lu  forced  a  crumb  of  biscuit  between  Maud's 
lips  (Maud  always  has  her  mouth  open — it's  very 
unhealthful),  and  poked  it  down  with  a  pin  ;  and  Maud 
whispered  to  me  just  an  hour  ago,  while  Mamma  Lu 
was  undressing  her  for  bed,  that  it  had  reached  her 
throat  and  was  tickling  her  dreadfully.  Another  time, 
Mamma  Lu  insisted  on  reaching  a  spoonful  of  tea  over 
to  Gladys,  and  I  was  so  afraid  that  it  would  be  spilled 
over  the  pretty  pink  dress  she  wore  that  I  couldn't  help 
crying  out:  'Gladys!  Gladys!  please  be  careful  of  my 
dress." 

Your  dress  indeed !"  snapped  Gladys ;  "  since  when, 
I'd  like  to  know  ?"  But  she  felt  pretty  much  ashamed  of 
herself  when  she  caught  Maud's  eyes  upon  her — Maud 
is  so  very  refined.     I  couldn't  help  feeling  embarrassed 

32 


TUESDAY— A  TEA  PARTY  AND  ITS  RESULTS 

too,  for  it  really  was  not  polite  of  me  to  call  across  the 
table  so  excitedly.  Of  course,  I  had  never  had  any 
experience  before  at  tea  parties,  and  didn't  know  just 
how  to  behave. 

By  the  time  that  only  one  little  cup  of  grape-tea,  three 
five  o'clocks  and  two  Nabiscos  were  left  on  the  table, 
Mamma  Lu  was  looking  rather  uncomfortable  and  I 
was  getting  rather  bored. 

"Not  so  much  fun  in  this  tea  party,"  I  was  thinking; 
"  I  expected  games  and  such  things.  I  wish  something 
would  happen;'  and  then,  when  I  was  three-quarters 
through  with  my  yawn,  nurse  came  in  with  a  great 
bottle  of  cough-medicine. 

"  Now  you've  got  to  take  it;  you  can't  get  out  of  it. 
No  nonsense  now,  Miss  Lu,  or  I'll  tell  your  mamma," 
she  said,  and  held  out  a  spoonful  to  Mamma  Lu. 
Really,  my  mamma  was  naughty  just  then.  Instead 
of  quietly  swallowing  the  stuff,  and  even  licking  the 
corners  of  her  lips  afterwards,  to  be  sure  not  to  lose  a 
drop,  and  then  saying,  "Thank  you  ever  so  much,  dear 
Nurse ;  it  was  so  kind  of  you  to  think  of  me,  and  I  do 
hope  that  my  cold  will  be  better  to-morrow,"  as  I'm 
sure  other  little  girls  do,  she  jumped  up  from  her  chair 
and  raced  around  the  room,  crying,  ' '  I  won't  take  it ;  no, 
I  won't,  I  won't!     It's  mean  of  you  to  come  and  spoil 

33 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

my  tea  party.     Go   and   take   it  yourself;   I  won't,  so 
there !" 

Well,  Mamma  Lu !  Maud  and  Gladys  looked  at 
me,  and  I  looked  at  Gladys  and  Maud.  Well,  Mamma 
Lu !  I  never — it  was  all  over  in  a  few  minutes.  Of 
course,  Nurse  caught  her  and  made  her  swallow  it,  and 
she  was  far  more  patient  with  Mamma  Lu  than  Mamma 
Lu  would  have  been  with  me  if  I  had  been  so  naughty. 
When  she  left  the  room,  there  was  silence  for  a  few 
minutes,  while  Mamma  Lu  sulked  on  a  chair,  and  we 
three  dolls  just  sat  and  looked  at  her. 

"You've  had  too  much  tea  party,"  I  thought.  "That 
banana-hash  has  put  you  in  a  bad  temper.     Please  don't 

eat  banana-hash  any  more,  Mamma  Lu." 
She   must   have   known  that  I  was 
thinking  of  her,  for  suddenly  she  looked 
straight  into  my  eyes. 

"Was  that  a  cough  I  heard?"  she 
asked,  very  severely. 
"'  Dolly,  you're  getting 
croupy." 

She  carried  me  over 

to  the  couch,  next  to  the 

window,  and  set  me  up 

against   the   cushions. 


TUESDAY— A  TEA  PARTY  AND  ITS  RESULTS 

'O,  how  you  are  frightening  me!"  she  said;  "but  I 
suppose  it's  nothing  but  too  much  tea  party."  This  to 
me,  and  I  hadn't  had  a  bite ! 

"I  was  surprised  at  the  way  you  gobbled  that 
banana-hash,  but  I  didn't  want  to  say  anything  before 
company.  That's  what  you  get  for  being  greedy, 
Dolly !  I  expected  better  things  from  you.  Now  you'll 
take  your  cough-medicine  like  a  lady — like  a  lady, 
Dolly,  without  a  word." 

The  nurse  had  forgotten  to  take  the  cough-syrup  out 
with  her,  and  Mamma  Lu  got  a  large  glass  cup  and 
half-filled  it  from  the  bottle. 

'I'm  giving  you  my  own  very  cough-medicine,  so 
you  must  try  to  get  well  as  soon  as  you  can,"  she  said, 
kneeling  down  beside  me.  '  Wait ;  I'll  tie  a  napkin 
around  you,  to  be  sure  that  you  don't  dirty  your  dress. 
Now  don't  sputter  when  I  give  it  to  you.  Ugh !  what 
an  awful  croak  that  last  cough  was ! ' 

An  awful  croak?  I  could  no  more  make  a  sound 
that  her  ears  were  delicate  enough  to  hear  than  she 
could  fly.  I  certainly  do  not  understand  my  mamma 
sometimes,  and  once  in  a  while  she  makes  me  angry. 
She  poured  that  bitter  stuff  over  the  right  corner  of  my 
chin,  because  my  mouth  is  always  tightly  closed  and 
not  a  drop  could  get  in,  until  it  dripped  down,  down 

35 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

over  the  napkin,  on  my  dress  and  on  the  cushions,  and 
I  knew  that  the  skin  on  the  right  side  of  my  chin  would 
be  just  ruined,  and  that  Nurse  would  scold  her  for  soil- 
ing the  couch.  She  really  is  careless.  Then  she  stood 
up,  shook  a  finger  at  me — I  do  not  think  that  fingers 
were  meant  to  be  shaken — and  said,  warningly :  "  Now 
keep  very  quiet,  and  don't  get  excited,  and  when  my 
company  goes  home,  ill  undress  you  and  put  you  to 
bed/' 

All  alone  on  the  couch,  I  had  to  watch  her  laughing 
and  acting  "grown-up"  with  Gladys  and  Maud,  and  I 
just  couldn't  keep  from  complaining,  "Why,  oh  why 
does  she  just  choose  me  to  have  a  cough?  I'm  per- 
fectly healthy." 

I  wonder  if  she'll  ever  lock  me  up  as  she  did 
Teddy  Bear.  Poor  Teddy  Bear!  But  I  don't  think 
that  he  can  be  more  miserable  than  I  was  then,  and, 
worst  of  all,  I  felt  myself  getting  dreadfully  angry  at 
my  mamma. 

All  at  once  I  heard  a  few  "cheep,  cheeps"  outside 
of  the  window.  "Now,  who  is  that?"  I  thought,  very 
much  excited;  "can  that  be  Ted?  Of  course  not;  his 
voice  would  be  deeper,  and  how  could  he  get  outside? 
I  do  hope  that  nobody  will  see  me.  I'm  so  glad  that  the 
cushions  hide  me.     Who  knows  what  opinion  people 

36 


4 


And  I  knew  that  the  skin  on  the  right  side  of  my  chin  would 

be  just  ruined 


TUESDAY— A  TEA  PARTY  AND  ITS  RESULTS 

would  have  of  me,  if  they  saw  that  merry  crowd  over 
there,  and  me  here,  all  alone?" 

Cheep!  cheep!  went  the  sounds  again,  swelling 
into  a  duet. 

"  Oh,  it  must  be  the  sparrows  that  Maud  was  telling 
me  about,"  I  thought.  "Well,  isn't  that  lovely?  I'll  be 
able  to  hear  every  word,  and  Maud  says  that  their 
conversation  is  so  interesting."  I  had  forgotten  all  my 
troubles,  and  was  awfully  excited.  I  certainly  do  like 
excitement. 

They  haven't  been  here  since  the  Friday  before  I 
came,  and  I  was  so  afraid  that  I'd  never  meet  them! 
Oh!  but  I  listened  carefully. 

There  she  is!"  said  a  young  voice  (they  were 
mother  and  son,  Maud  told  me).  "There's  the  dear 
little  girl  that  warmed  up  our  stomachs  with  her  own 
nice,  hot  buttered  toast  two  weeks  ago,  when  we 
were  making  a  very,  very  light  and  chilly  breakfast 
of  snow." 

'  She  is  a  dear !"  answered  an  older  voice ;  "  see  how 
she's  laughing,  son!  I'm  sure  she  never  has  a  sulky 
moment."  *  You  should  have  seen  her  fifteen  minutes 
ago,"  I  thought. 

What  is  she  eating?"  went  on  the  first;  "it  looks 
good." 

37 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

"  If  she  knew  that  we  were  here,  she'd  surely  give 
us  some,"  said  the  second.  "Would  she?"  I  thought. 
"I'm  not  so  sure  of  that."  Dear  me,  but  I  was  angry  at 
Mamma  Lu !  "  Still,  I  hardly  think  it  would  be  fair  to 
take  it  away  from  her." 

"  But  I'm  hungry,"  whimpered  the  younger  voice, 
"and  it's  so  hard  to  live  after  the  autumn.  I  wish  we'd 
get  in  the  habit  of  going  down  South  for  the  winter. 
All  our  relatives  do." 

"  Now,  don't  grumble.  If  you  really  want  something 
to  eat,  I'll  try  to  attract  her  attention.  You  can  help 
me,"  and  cheep !  cheep !  they  piped  together  in  a  strong 
duet. 

I  peeped  over  at  the  tea  table.  Just  one  Nabisco  and 
one  five  o'clock  tea  were  left.  Mamma  Lu  was  just 
lifting  the  five  o'clock  tea  for  a  little  nibble,  when  she 
heard  the  cheeps  and  looked  towards  the  window. 

"  It's  those  poor  birds  again,"  she  cried,  and  jumped 
from  her  chair  in  a  flash.  "Maybe  they're  hungry. 
Shall  I  give  them  our  five  o'clock  tea,  Maudie  ?  But  we 
want  the  Nabisco  for  ourselves,  don't  we  ?"  And  then 
her  face  got  red.  "  Oh,  I'm  a  greedy,  selfish  thing!"  she 
cried.     "  You  poor  little  birdies  !" 

She  opened  the  window  very  softly,  so  as  not  to 
frighten  the  sparrows,  crumbled  biscuits  on  the  sill,  and 

38 


TUESDAY-A  TEA  PARTY  AND  ITS  RESULTS 


just    as  softly  closed  the  window.      Then  she  tiptoed 
with  Gladys  and  Maud  over  to  the  end  of  the  room. 

"  They'll  like  their  tea  party  much  better  if  no  one's 
watching  them  eat,"  she  whispered.  "  I  wish  I  had  some 
banana-hash  left;  I'm  sure  they'd  have  enjoyed  that. 
Sh,  Dolly!  Now  don't  cough.  I'd  bring  you  over 
here  too,  but  you're  so  smudgy  that  I 
don't  like  to  touch  you.  You're  always 
smudgy." 

No;  my  mamma  does  not  love 
me.  Oh,  if  I  only  were  a  bird!  She 
is  always  blaming  me  and  scolding 
me  for  nothing,  and  has  no  considera- 
tion for  my  feelings.  I 
don't  think  it's  fair. 

But  anyhow,  at  that 
moment,  when  I  heard 
the  sharp  little  pecks 
of  the  sparrows'  beaks 
at  the  delicious  crumbs, 
and  the  fluttering  of 
their  wings  against  the 
panes,  I  loved  and  felt 
very  proud  of  my 
Mamma  Lu. 


ytca 


CHAPTER  III 

WEDNESDAY— I    GET    A    NEW    DRESS 

Oh,  Teddy  Bear  is  stuck-up,  and  I  do  hate  stuck-up 
people !  I  don't  see,  anyhow,  why  he  thinks  such  a  lot 
of  himself;  but  he  really  is  handsome.  I  caught  a 
glimpse  of  him  about  an  hour  ago,  when  Mamma  Lu 
took  him  out  of  the  trunk.  He  has  a  lovely  white  coat 
of  fur,  a  pink  nose  and  pink  overcoat — I  do  like  pink. 
His  eyes  are  a  lovely  color  and  have  so  much  expres- 
sion ;  they  remind  me  a  great  deal  of  the  brown  buttons 
on  Mamma  Lu's  tan  slippers. 

Well,  he's  out  at  last,  and  I  hope  he  behaves  himself 
and  stays  out.  Oh,  I  oughtn't  to  have  said  that  in  such 
a  snappy  way ;  of  course  he  behaves  himself  !  I'm  sure 
that  it's  not  his  fault  that  Mamma  Lu  is  so  severe  with 
him.  Doesn't  she  treat  me,  too,  as  if  I  were  a  naughty 
child,  though  I'm  trying  so  hard  to  be  good?  Didn't 
she,  this  very  morning,  say  to  me :  "  You  give  me  more 
trouble  than  Maud  and  Gladys  and  all  my  other  chil- 
dren put  together  ever  did!  Now,  you've  just  gotten 
over  a  dangerous  cough,  and  I'm  very  much  afraid  that 
you'll   get   some  other   sickness.     You   look  feverish." 

40 


WEDNESDAY— I  GET  A  NEW  DRESS 

She  put  her  hand  on  my  head  then,  and  said :  "  Dear, 
dear,  I  do  hope  it  will  be  nothing  serious!  Perhaps 
you'll  be  better  by  the  time  I  come  back  from  school. 
Yes,  you  must  be  better,  Dolly,  or  I'll  think  you  very 
naughty.     You  really  do  give  me  more  trouble — " 

Now,  it  was  sweet  of  Mamma  Lu  to  be  so  careful 
about  my  health;  but  I  don't  want  to  be  fussed  over 
when  I  know  I'm  perfectly  well,  and  she  surely  needn't 
have  made  that  unkind  remark  about  my  being  "  more 
trouble,  etc."  Mamma  Lu  wouldn't  like  it,  I'm  sure,  if 
Grandma  Ellis  would  say  to  her,  every  time  she  sneezed : 
"You're  the  biggest  bother,  Lucy!'  Little  girls  often 
do  not  think  what  they  are  saying. 

Mamma  Lu  went  to  school  to-day  after  nurse  had  had 
a  very  hard  time  dressing  her.  Gladys  said  that  it  was 
because  she  didn't  want  to  go  back  to  school,  but  I  can 
hardly  believe  that.  Then  I  lay  back  and  thought  about 
the  big  family  that  Mamma  Lu  had  had — ten  children 
before  me,  and  only  Maud  and  Gladys  left  of  all  the 
big  crowd.  Dear  me,  that's  sad — and  scary,  too! 
Maud — I  a  Ways  feel  like  calling  her  Miss  Maud,  because 
she  is  so  dignified ;  but  she  told  me  at  once  that  it  would 
be  very  foolish  for  sisters  to  be  so  stiff — that  I  must  call 
her  simply  Maud.  She  is  so  very  sweet,  Maud  is! 
Well,  Maud  told  me  the  other  day  that  she  is  the  oldest 

41 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

of  them  all.  When  she  came,  Mamma  Lu  was  only  a 
year  old.  Oh,  she  must  have  been  a  pretty  baby,  and 
very  young,  indeed,  to  be  the  mother  of  a  great  girl  like 
Maud!  Mamma  Lu  is  seven  years  old  now,  so  really 
my  oldest  sister  isn't  so  very  young  any  more,  though 
she  doesn't  look  a  day  older  than  I.  And  I'm  sure  she 
keeps  her  age  well,  because  she  has  been  petted  and 
kissed  and  made  happy  all  her  life;  not  like — well,  I 
don't  intend  to  complain. 

Six  came  before  Gladys — one  rubber,  three  rag,  a 
set — Uncle  Harry  again!  I  do  wish  Mamma  Lu  had 
them  now.  Rag  dolls  are  so  nice  and  friendly — not  a 
bit  stuck-up  and  always  up  to  fun.  Then  there  were 
two  bisque  (like  me)  and  one  all  china.  The  last  one 
was  very  delicate,  Maud  said.  She  got  giddy  the  very 
first  day  that  she  came  into  the  family,  fell  out  of  Mamma 
Lu's  arms,  and  smashed  into — Maud  didn't  count  the 
pieces  carefully,  but  she  thinks  that  the  number  reached 
two  hundred  and  thirty-one.  Gladys  came  next;  she's 
wax,  like  Maud,  and  Maud  told  me  that  Gladys  was 
the  first  real  friend  she  had.  Such  friends  as  they  are 
now!  Maud  is  like  a  mother  to  Gladys,  and  Gladys  is 
simply  devoted  to  Maud.  They  are  both  very  kind  to 
me;  but  I  just  feel  that  I  can  never  be  really  in  it  with 
them.     They  seemed  to  take  to  each  other  right  away, 

42 


WEDNESDAY— I  GET  A  NEW  DRESS 

and  never  quarrel.  Before  Gladys  came,  Maud  used 
to  be  awfully  lonely  at  night  sometimes,  when  Mamma 
Lu  had  forgotten  to  put  her  to  sleep. 

"I  simply  couldn't  make  friends  with  those  other 
dolls,"  she  told  me  last  Monday,  in  our  long  talk. 
"They  didn't  know  how  to  behave,  especially  the  rag 
dolls.  I'll  never  forget  the  awful  noise  they  used  to 
make  every  night.  And  dirty! — I  was  certainly  glad 
when  Grandma  Ellis  took  them  away  from  Mamma 
Lucy."  Maud  always  calls  our  Mamma  Lu,  Mamma 
Lucy. 

When  Maud  told  me  this,  I  kept  quiet  as  to  my  feel- 
ings toward  rag  dolls,  because  I  was  afraid  that  she 
would  think  badly  of  my  taste.  But  I  had  grown  a  little 
more  independent  in  the  last  two  days,  and  besides,  was 
awfully  anxious  to  know  whether  there  was  any  chance 
of  their  coming  back;  so  I  said,  quite  suddenly,  about 
two  hours  after  Mamma  Lu  had  gone  off  to  school : 
"What  ever  became  of  those  three  rag  dolls  you  were 
talking  about,  Maud  ?  Heard  anything  of  them  lately  ? 
What  did  Mamma  Lu  do  with  all  her  broken-down 
children,  anyway — the  six  before  Gladys  and  the  two 
before  us?     Do  you  know,  Maud?" 

At  first  there  was  no  answer.  Maud,  and  Gladys 
too,  seemed  mighty  uncomfortable.    At  last  Maud  said, 

43 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

very  slowly,  and  in  a  queer  voice:  "As  for  those  com- 
mon rag  dolls,  they  were  most  likely  thrown  into  the 
ash-barrel " — "  Oh,  the  poor  things ! "  I  exclaimed — "  and 
maybe  are  turned  into  bits  of  paper  now.  Just  what 
Mamma  Lucy  does  with  the  higher  classes,  like  you 
and  Gladys  and  me," — now,  wasn't  it  sweet  of  Maud 
to  include  me  ? — "  I  am  not  sure.  Gladys  and  I  some- 
times imagine  that  we  know;  but  we  don't  want  you 
to  question  us,  because  we  are  not  certain  we  are  right. 
It  is  an  unpleasant  subject  anyhow,  and  makes  me  feel 
chilly.  Maybe  when  you  are  a  little  older,  Dolly  dear" 
— and  then  she  stopped. 

I  hope  that  I  am  mannerly  enough  not  to  insist  upon 
a  disagreeable  subject;  so  I  just  murmured:  "Oh,  cer- 
tainly," as  politely  as  I  could,  and  pretended  to  doze  off. 
Of  course,  I  was  just  burning  with  curiosity.  'Heaps 
of  things  for  me  to  learn  yet,"  I  thought.  "  Oh,  if  only 
Teddy  would  speak,  I'm  sure  he  could  teach  me  lots ! ' 
But  I  had  made  up  my  mind  not  to  call  him  again,  and 
I  simply  wouldn't.  Very  soon  Mamma  Lu  came  home 
from  school,  and  then  I  had  no  more  time  for  thinking. 

"Hello,  Gladys!  Hello,  Maudie!  Well,  Dolly,  how 
are  you  feeling  ?  A  little  better,  I  think.  Your  cough's 
gone,  and  you  have  no  more  fever,"  she  said;  'you've 
been  a  good  child  and  deserve  a  dress — a   nice   new 

44 


WEDNESDAY— I  GET  A  NEW  DRESS 


dress,  all  your  own.     I  believe  I'll  make  it  for  you  this 
afternoon."     Dear  me,  but  I  was  glad ! 

"Pink — make  it  pink!'  I  prayed.  She  measured 
the  breadth  of  my  chest  and  the  length  of  my  arms 
with  a  piece  of  string.  "Thirty-eight  inches  and  twenty- 
one.  Yes,  ma'am,"  she  said.  Goodness!  I  didn't 
know  I  was  as  big  as  all  that.  I  could  hardly  believe 
it.     I'm  sure  Mamma  Lu  made  a  mistake. 

"I'll  make  it  in  my  mamma's  room,  because  her 
work-basket  is  in  there,"  she  went  on;  "and  I  believe 
I'll  take  Gladys's  pink  dress  with  me  for  a  pattern." 

She  hurried  out  of  the  room  and  I  lay  back  on  my 
bed,  perfectly  delighted.     Gladys  seemed  a 
little  out  of  humor  though,  and  Maud  was 
rather  quiet.    "Never  mind,"  I  thought;  "I'll 
loan  my  dress  to  them  sometimes.     I  wonder 
how  many  more  I'll  get."     In  less  than 
five  minutes,  Mamma  Lu  came 
back    with    a    pink     Mother 
Hubbard  exactly  like  Gladys's, 
excepting  that  there  were  no 
frills  at  the  neck  and  sleeves. 

"Oh,  it's  sweet ! "  I  thought, 
though  maybe  I  was  just  the 
least    little    bit    disappointed 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

about  the  frills.  A  touch  of  white  at  the  throat,  you 
know — 

"Here  you  are,"  she  cried;  "here's  your  dress — 
your  nice  new  dress.  Do  you  like  it,  Dolly?"  And 
then  she  laughed  out  loud  and  kissed  Gladys.  A  whole 
new  dress,  with  sleeves,  and  tucks,  and  hem,  and  skirt, 
and  buttonholes — and  such  neat  little  buttonholes — in 
less  than  five  minutes !  My  Mamma  Lu  is  certainly  a 
wonder ;  but  I  don't  see  why  she  had  to  kiss  Gladys  so, 
all  of  a  sudden.  And  such  mean  things  that  dolls  say 
sometimes  !  All  the  while  Mamma  Lu  was  taking  off 
the  sweet  little  blue  that  I  wore  yesterday  to  the  tea 
party,  and  dressing  me  in  my  pink,  that  jealous  Gladys 
was  grumbling :  "  It's  my  dress,  and  I  don't  think  I've 
been  treated  fairly.  I  didn't  mind  lending  it  for  awhile, 
but  I  do  not  want  to  give  it  away  altogether.  It  just 
makes  me  feel  bad  to  see  all  that  pretty  lace  torn  off, 
and  I  don't  see  why  she  couldn't  have  kept  it  on.  She 
needn't  think  she  can  fool  me ;  I  guess  I  can  recognize 
my  own  dress,  lace  or  no  lace." 

At  first  I  wasn't  going  to  pay  any  attention  to  her 
remarks — I  thought  that  Maud  would  settle  her;  but 
Maud  was  looking  rather  queer,  too,  and  didn't  say  a 
word ;  so  then  I  just  fired  up.  "  How  can  you  talk  so, 
Gladys?     Didn't  my  mamma — and  she  is  my  mamma, 

46 


WEDNESDAY— I  GET  A  NEW  DRESS 


remember,  just  as  much  as  yours,  and  is  going  to  like 
me,  too,  just  as  well  some  day — didn't  she  say  that  it 
was  a  new  dress,  a  new  dress?"  Anyhow,  I'd  like  to 
know  why  I  can't  get  a  new  dress  once  in  a  while  as 
well  as  you." 

"Because  the  third  girl  in  a  family  hardly  ever  gets 
new  dresses,"  snapped  Gladys;  "and  at  present  you're 
the  third  in  the  family.  Besides,  just  look  at  that  spot 
on  the  hem.  You've  seen  that  spot  before — you  know 
you  have.  And  Mamma  Lu  said :  *  Your  new  dress, 
your  nice  new  dress;*  not  'a  new  dress.'  It's  new  to 
you,  though  it's  old  to  me.  Oh,  I  don't  care;  the  lace 
was  all  worn  out,  and  I  was  sick  of  the 
old  thing  anyway ; "  and  then  she  began 
to  whisper  to  Maud. 

I  won't  believe — I  just  won't  believe 
it ;  so  there !  My  dress  is  a  new  one 
— a  brand  new  one,  and  it  was 
very   clever  of  my  mamma  to 
sew  it   so    quickly.      I    don't 
quite  understand,  though,  why 
she  didn't  bring  back  with  her 
Gladys's  pink  Mother  Hubbard 
that  she  took  out  for  a  pattern. 
Some  things  are  so  very  queer ! 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

"  Now,  you're  only  a  baby  yet,  and  I  don't  think 
you  keep  your  dresses  very  clean,"  Mamma  Lu  said  to 
me  as  soon  as  I  was  dressed;  'so  I  believe  I'll  make 
you  wear  an  apron." 

She  rummaged  in  the  box  in  which  she  kept  the 
girls'  clothes,  of  which  there  were  heaps,  until  she 
picked  out  a  simple  little  pinafore  without  a  bit  of 
trimming. 

'  Now  this  will  do  very  nicely,"  she  said,  as  she 
slipped  the  pinafore  on  me  and  tried  to  fasten  it.  "  Oh 
my!  the  lower  button's  off.  I  couldn't  put  an  apron 
with  a  button  off  on  my  child,  or  I'd  teach  it  to  be 
untidy,  and  that  would  never  do." 

She  ran  off  again,  and  came  back  with  grandma's 
work-basket,  settled  herself  comfortably  in  a  chair,  with 
her  feet  on  a  footstool,  just  as  she  must  have  seen  her 
mamma  do ;  placed  me  flat  on  my  stomach  on  her  lap, 
till  I  expected  my  eyes  to  drop  out  on  the  floor  any 
second,  and  began  to  sew  on  my  new  apron.  After  the 
fourth  stitch — it  must  have  been  the  fourth,  because  my 
skin  had  been  pricked  four  times — she  rested  for  a 
ninute  and  said  aloud: 

'Now,  maybe  I  should  have  waited  till  mamma 
had  come  home,  because  then  I  could  have  gotten  a 
button;  but  I  guess  this  will  do  just  as  well;"  and  after 
48 


She  placed  me  flat  on  my  stomach  in  her  lap,  'till  I  expected 
my  eyes  would  drop  out  on  the  floor 


WEDNESDAY— I  GET  A  NEW  DRESS 

eighteen  stitches,  or,  at  least,  eighteen  pricks,  she  gave 
me  a  little  tap  on  the  back,  and  said : 

"Now  you're  all  right,  Dolly;  I've  sewed  your  apron 
up  nice  and  tight,  and  you  can't  possibly  get  out  of  it 
unless  I  take  the  thread  out  for  you.  It's  much  safer 
than  a  button." 

Gladys  burst  out  laughing.  Oh,  but  I  was  angry, 
and  I  said,  as  haughtily  as  could  be:  "I  am  perfectly 
satisfied  with  any  style  of  apron  my  mother"  (I  said 
mother  instead  of  mamma  to  sort  of  scare  her)  "  chooses 
for  me,  and  I  don't  see  what  on  earth  you  are  laughing 
at,  Miss  Gladys." 

Maud  said  "Sh!"  and  looked  surprised;  but  I  did 
feel  sore,  on  account  of  the  needle  pricks,  I  guess  (and 
oh,  it  is  so  babyish  to  be  sewn  up  in  an  apron,  just  like 
a — like  a — a — a — sausage !)  and  wouldn't  stop  for  any- 
body. Mamma  Lu  put  us  to  bed,  though,  right  away, 
and  that  settled  the  argument. 

Let's  see.  Did  anything  else  of  importance  happen  ? 
What  a  joke!  I'm  pretending  to  forget,  when  all  the 
while  I'm  so  delighted  that  all  the  sausage  aprons  in  the 
world  couldn't  put  me  in  a  bad  temper  to-night.  Just 
after  supper  Mamma  Lu  came  into  the  nursery  again, 
and  without  saying  a  word  to  us  about  it — she  would 
have  done  so,  I'm  sure,  if  she  had  known  how  much 

49 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

we  care ;  he's  a  sort  of  a  relation  anyway — she  unlocked 
the  trunk  in  which  Teddy  was  imprisoned,  took  him 
out,  dusted  him  off,  looked  at  him,  dusted  him  again, 
and  then  put  him  under  the  bed. 

'Now  just  you  take  care  of  the  girls,"  she  said; 
"see  that  nothing  happens  to  them,  and  maybe,  if 
you're  very  brave,  I'll  make  you  a  sergeant." 

Maud  and  Gladys  have  been  sound  asleep  since  at 
least  four  o'clock,  so  they  don't  know  anything  about  it. 
Oh,  don't  I  wish  it  were  morning,  so  that  I  could  tell 
them  the  good  news !  We  are  all  interested  in  Teddy, 
and  so  sorry  for  him.  Poor  Teddy  Bear,  how  glad  he 
must  be  to  get  his  freedom  again !  I  wonder  how  it  felt 
in  that  narrow  trunk.  If  I  weren't  afraid  he 
wouldn't  answer  me,  I'd  ask  him  what  he 
did  to  make  Mamma  Lu  cross 
with  him;  then  I'd  be  careful 
not  to  do  it.  If  he'd  only  be  a 
little  more  sociable,  we  could 
have  such 
nice  long 
talks  to-  (J 
gether  in 
the  night;  \i 
he's  not  a 

50 


WEDNESDAY— I  GET  A  NEW  DRESS 

sleeper,  and  I'm  sure  he's  clever.  Maybe  he  knows  what 
becomes  of  Mamma  Lu's  broken  dolls.  Wouldn't  that 
be  grand?  Oh,  Teddy!  Teddy!  No,  I  won't  call  him. 
I  said  I  wouldn't,  and  I  won't.  But  oh,  I  do  wish  it 
were  morning,  so  that  I  could  tell  the  girls  the  good 
news! 


51 


CHAPTER  IV 

THURSDAY- SPANKED! 

11  Thursday,  March  the  twenty-first,  nineteen  hundred 
and  seven.  Thursday,  March  the  twenty-first,  nineteen 
hundred  and  seven.**  That's  all  I  can  do,  repeat  over 
and  over  to  myself,  "Thursday,  March  the  twenty-first, 
nineteen  hundred  and  seven.  Thursday,  March  the 
twenty-first,  nineteen  hundred  and  seven.** 

I  shall  never  forget  this  day,  never,  never,  for  to-day 
is  the  day  that  my  heart  was  broken,  just  broken, — 
broken  into  at  least  as  many  pieces  as  that  delicate  china 
doll*s  body  broke  into,  when  she  fell  out  of  Mamma 
Lu*s  arms.  I  wish  I  could  stop  thinking  of  my  terrible 
trouble,  for  the  pain  of  it  is  more  than  I  can  endure; 
pain  in  my  mind  where  I  can*t  catch  hold  of  what's 
paining ;  that's  because  of  the  public  disgrace,  and  pain 
in  the  body,  where  it  hurts  when  I  touch,  and  that's 
because  of  the  hair-brush. 

Everyone  must  be  sleeping  now,  it's  late.  I  guess 
they're  dreaming,  but  no  one  would  ever  dream  that  a 
poor  little  doll,  still  nameless,  is  lying  awake,  so,  so,  so 
miserable. 

52 


THURSDAY— SPANKED 

Mamma  Lu's  sleeping  in  the  room  next  to  this.  Do 
you  remember,  you  poor  little  doll,  that  when  you  first 
came  here,  not  so  very  long  ago  either,  though  it  seems 
an  age,  you  used  to  imagine  that  some  night  you'd  get 
into  that  room  with  Mamma  Lu,  and  rest  in  her  white 
little  bed,  on  her  nice  little  pillow,  hugged  tight  in  her 
soft  pink  arms.  Maud  and  Gladys  told  me  last  Monday 
that  they've  slept  with  Mamma  Lu  lots  of  times,  and 
that  they  prefer  their  own  beds.  Gladys  even  said  that 
it's  mighty  uncomfortable  to  be  squeezed  as  tight  as 
Mamma  Lu  squeezes  in  her  sleep.  I  knew,  though, 
that  they  simply  couldn't  appreciate  their  great  good 
fortune,  and  I  thought  that  perhaps,  if  I'm  very  good 
and  patient,  maybe  just  once  Mamma  Lu  might.  I've 
tried  so  hard,  and  now  it's  all  over.  She  just  never 
seemed  to  care  for  me,  that's  all.  Only  once  did  she 
kiss  me  good -night,  and  she  was  always  saying  I  was 
sick  or  untidy.  To-day,  though,  has  just  crushed  me 
altogether.  "Thursday,  the  twenty-first  of  March,  nine- 
teen hundred  and  seven.  Thursday,  the  twenty-first 
of  March,  nineteen  hundred  and  seven." 

How  did  it  all  come  about  ?  How  did  it  all  come 
about?  The  day  started  well  enough.  Mamma  Lu 
came  in  as  usual,  before  going  off  to  school,  and  woke 
Maud  and  Gladys  with  a  kiss.     She  didn't  kiss  me,  but 

53 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  DOLL 

I  tried  not  to  care. 
I'm  used  to  that  al- 
ready, and  anyhow, 
I  could  see  that  she 
was  beginning  to 
think  it  unfair  to 
leave  me  out,  for 
she  explained  quickly, 
"  Don't  forget  that  you're 
on  trial  for  a  week,  Dolly, 
and  that's  why  I  must  be  strict  with  you.  You've  got 
such  staring  eyes,  I'm  awfully  afraid  you're  stubborn 
and  maybe  mischievous,  and  I  want  to  see  just  what 
sort  of  a  girl  you  are  before  I  name  you."  She  even 
petted  me  under  the  chin,  just  before  she  left. 

As  soon  as  the  girls  were  awake,  I  told  them  the 
good  news  about  Teddy  Bear.  Weren't  they  delighted, 
though ;  and  oh !  the  fun  Gladys  and  I  had  all  morning ! 
Maud  is  so  very  dignified,  she  wouldn't  join  us,  but 
even  she  couldn't  help  smiling,  we  laughed  so  much. 
There  lay  Teddy  under  the  bed,  never  opening  his 
mouth,  and  we  two  girls  were  making  the  funniest 
remarks  at  him,  all  morning.  Of  course,  we  didn't 
mean  to  hurt  his  feelings,  because  we  all  like  him,  but 
oh !  the  fun  we  had !     Once  I  said,  "  I'm  sure  he's  lost 

54 


THURSDAY— SPANKED 

his  tongue,  don't  you  think  so,  Glad?"  and  I  thought 
we'd  die  of  laughing.  And  Gladys,  she's  rather  clever 
and  snappy,  said,  "I  bet  something  happened  to  it 
in  the  trunk.  Now,  I  remember,  when  Mamma  Lu 
locked  Marster  Theodore  in"  (oh!  she  pronounced  his 
name  too  funny  for  anything),  "  he  cried  out,  *  Oh,  my 
tongue!  My  tongue's  caught  in  the  keyhole!'  Don't 
you  remember  it,  too,  Maud ! ' 

I  was  just  shrieking,  but  Maud  spoiled  the  fun  a  little 
by  saying,  ' '  Now  you  know  that's  not  true,  Gladys,  and 
I'm  sure  that  1  wouldn't  make  remarks  about  a  young 
man  who  wouldn't  talk  to  me."  She  said  this  quite 
loud,  and  then  she  coughed.  I'm  positive  she  -was 
waiting  for  Teddy  to  say,  ' '  That's  the  way  to  talk,  Miss 
Maud,"  but  he  didn't.  I'm  sure  she  didn't  like  it,  for  it 
certainly  does  make  you  angry  to  talk  and  talk  to  a 
person,  without  being  able  to  attract  his  attention. 

Well,  the  fun  lasted  till  Mamma  Lu  came  home  from 
school.  I'll  never  laugh  again,  I'm  sure,  never,  never. 
I  noticed  at  once  that  she  was  moving  her  jaws  in  a  very 
queer  way  from  the  right  side  to  the  left,  and  from  the 
left  back  again  to  the  right.  I  thought  at  first  that  she 
was  eating  something,  but  for  about  two  minutes  she 
kept  on  chewing  and  chewing  and  looking  down  at  us 
without  a  word,  and  of  course  I  knew  that  Mamma  Lu 

55 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

couldn't  keep  on  chewing  one  little  mouthful  of  food 
for  so  long,  without  swallowing  it.  Right  away  Maud 
sniffed  and  said  "  Pepsin  !  *  and  Gladys  "  Wintergreen, 
I  think,"  and  I  said,  "Girls,  what  do  you  mean?" 

Then  Maud  looked  quite  stern  and  said,  very 
severely,  "  Mamma  Lucy  is  doing  something  that  is  very 
naughty.  She  is  chewing  GUM,  and  her  mamma  has 
forbidden  her  to  do  it,  expressly  forbidden  her;  I've 
heard  her  myself." 

"  But  she  wouldn't  do  anything  that  her  mamma  has 
told  her  not  to  do,"  I  gasped.  "  Don't  ask  me  to  believe 
that  of  my  Mamma  Lu,  Maud!" 

"It's  only  too  true.  To-day  must  be  one  of  her 
naughty  days ;  she  gets  them  once  in  a  while.  I  don't 
know  whether  I'm  glad  or  sorry  that  Grandma  Ellis  is 
not  home  again,  to-day.  It  would  make  her  feel  so  sad 
to  see  her  Lucy  disobeying  her,  and  I'm  sure  that  she 
would  be  very  angry.  But  then  Mamma  Lucy  deserves 
to  be  punished  for  being  disobedient,  and  I'm  afraid 
she  won't  confess.  See  how  crooked  her  mouth  looks 
already,  because  of  that  horrid  stuff.  She  must  have 
gotten  it  in  school,  from  Winnie  Campbell.  I  never  did 
like  that  girl  Winnie." 

I  was  so  shocked  that  I  couldn't  say  a  word,  and  just 
stared  straight  into  Mamma  Lu's  eyes,  as  she  bent  over 

56 


THURSDAY— SPANKED 

us.     Chewing  just  as  fast  as  she  could,  she  picked  me 
up  and  held  me  at  arms'  length  from  her,  and  said : 

"First  a  cough*  (pause  for  a  chew),  "then  fever!' 
(another  chew),  "  and  now  I've  just  got  to  take  you  to 
the  eye  doctor"  (three  quick  chews).  "You  must  have 
something  wrong  with  your  eyes ;  I've  never  seen  a  doll 
with  such  a  queer  look  as  you  have."  "  No,  very  likely 
not,  Mamma  Lu,"  I  thought.  "Very  few  dolls  are 
unfortunate  enough  to  have  accidents  before  they  are 
complete."  "If  I  don't  at- 
tend to  your  trouble  while 
your  young,  you  may  go 
blind,  Dolly ! " 

She  looked  sad  for  a  mo- 
ment, then  clapped  her  hands, 
laughed,  and  went  on  chew- 
ing. 

"Oh,  wouldn't  that  be  just 
lovely!'  she  cried.  "A  blind  doll! 
I'll  tell  Winnie  Campbell  all  about  it 
to-morrow."  So  it  was  Winnie ! 
"Come  on,  Dolly,  you  poor  blind 
child.  You  must  have  an  operation 
right  away,  you're  awfully  sick.  Here,  I 
guess  I'll  undress  you  for  the  operation." 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 


Dear  me,  but  I  was  scared !  While  she  was  ripping 
out  the  thread  that  fastened  up  my  apron,  although  I 
was  glad  to  be  rid  of  that  babyish  thing,  I  was  trembling 
all  over.  It  is  just  possible  that  I  was  nervous  because 
1  was  so  shocked  that  she  had  disobeyed  her  mother. 
She  sat  down  in  a  chair  and  laid  me,  dressed  only  in 
my  chemise,  face  up,  on  her  lap. 

'I  think'  (five  chews  that  time,  I  counted  them) 
"that  I'll  pick  your  eyes  out,  Dolly,  and  then  examine 
them  to  see  what's  wrong  with  them.  If  they're  all  right, 
111  stick  them  back  again,  and  if  they're  not,  why  you'll 
just  have  big  black  holes  for  eyes,  and  be 
my  poor  blind  child.  Won't  you  be  glad, 
Dolly?" 

Well,  hardly!     I  was  half-fainting  with 
terror. 

'Now,  lie  still  and  be  good!  I 
won't  hurt  you,  and  it's  got  to  be 
done."  She  put  one  hand  under  the 
right  and  one  hand  under  the  left  side 
of  my  head,  and  pressed  a  thumb,  as 
hard  as  she  could,  upon  each  eye. 
Maud  and  Gladys  shrieked.  I  believe 
that  I  fainted,  for  I  remember  nothing 
till,  "I  can't   do   it.     Goodness,  your 


THURSDAY— SPANKED 

eyes  are  strong.'*  Mamma  Lu  was  grumbling,  "  I'll  have 
to  leave  them  in,  they're  fixed  so  tight."  Oh!  but 
mucilage  is  a  faithful  friend,  that  sticks  to  you  forever! 
The  danger  was  over. 

Mamma  Lu  carried  me  back  to  bed,  and  it  was 
sweet,  after  my  dreadful  experience,  to  receive  the  con- 
gratulations that  Gladys  and  Maud  poured  in  on  me, 
upon  my  lucky  escape.  Mamma  Lu,  meanwhile,  sat 
on  a  chair,  and  began  to  play  with  her  gum.  What 
didn't  she  do  with  it  ?  She  rolled  it  into  circles,  then 
cut  it  into  squares  and  diamonds  with  her  sharp  little 
teeth,  pulled  it  out  into  tangled  masses  of  threads,  rolled 
it  up  again  into  a  ball,  and  popped  it  into  her  mouth. 
Ugh !  It  made  me  sick !  I  could  just  understand  why 
her  mamma  had  forbidden  her  to  chew  gum.  At  last 
her  conscience  began  to  prick  her. 

'  Mamma  would  be  so  angry  if  she  saw  me,  wouldn't 
she?"  she  said  to  us,  solemnly.  "  I  wonder  why  I'm  so 
naughty  to-day.  But  Winnie  Campbell  coaxed  me  so 
hard,  I  just  had  to  take  a  piece.  And,  anyhow,  mamma 
didn't  tell  me  not  to  chew  chewing-gum.  She  said  to 
me,  'Now,  Lucy,  I  don't  want  you  ever  to  buy  any 
chewing-gum.*  You  remember,  don't  you,  Maudie? 
That's  just  what  she  said,  '  I  don't  want  you  to  buy  any,' 
and  I  didn't ;  I  got  it  as  a  present." 

59 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

"  Oh,  the  sly  child ! '  Maud  cried.  "  She  knows  quite 
well  what  her  mamma  meant.  Did  you  ever!  Well, 
to-day  is  certainly  one  of  her  naughty  days.  See  what 
she  tried  to  do  to  you,  you  poor  Dolly.  And  she'll  be 
up  to  more  mischief  to-day,  I'm  sure." 

I  couldn't  get  as  vexed  as  Maud  could,  but  I  did  feel 
mighty  sorry.  "Poor  Mamma  Lu!"  I  said  to  myself. 
"So  you're  a  naughty  child.  Isn't  that  sad!  Who 
would  ever  have  thought  it ;  you  look  so  sweet  ? ' 

"I'm  going  to  read  you  some  Mother  Goosies." 
Mamma  Lu  jumped  up  suddenly,  '  Maud,  you're  too 
old  for  them ;  you  may  stay  in  bed,  but  Gladys  and 
Dolly  are  going  to  get  out  and  listen."  She  tied  a  little 
white  bonnet  on  Gladys'  head,  and  sat  her  down  on  a 
chair.  Then  she  lifted  me  up,  and  sat  me  down  in 
another.  Imagine  how  embarrassed  I  felt,  Gladys 
dressed  like  a  lady,  in  white  and  pink,  and  me  with 
only  a  narrow  chemise  on,  and  yesterday's  pink  ribbon 
in  my  hair.  Gladys  sat  beautifully,  like  a  little  lady,  but 
I  never  was  very  good  at  sitting,  my  joints  weren't  made 
that  way,  and,  feeling  as  embarrassed  as  I  did,  I  was 
exceptionally  clumsy. 

Mamma  Lu  was  just  asking:  "Who  killed  Cock- 
Robin?"  in  an  awfully  stern  voice,  and  frowning  at  me 
as  if  she  thought  maybe  I  had  done  it,  though  indeed 

60 


THURSDAY— SPANKED 

I'd  never  seen  Mr.  Robin  in  my  life,  when 
I  heard  a  bright  "Cheep!  Cheep!'  at  the 
window.  At  first  I  thought 
it  was  Cock -Robin  come 
back  to  life  to  accuse  me 
(I'm  so  scary),  but  at  once  I 
remembered  —  the  spar- 
rows again,  of  course.  I'm 
sure  I  blushed,  to  have 
perfect  strangers  see  me 
dressed  like  that !  The  idea ! 
and  I  was  praying,  praying 
that  Mamma  Lu  would  stop 
reading  and  slip  me  back 
into  bed,  when,  just  how  it 
happened,  I  don't  know,  but 
maybe  I  was  stretching  my 
neck  the  least  little  bit  to  hear  what  the  sparrows  were 
saying,  or  maybe  I  was  dizzy  yet  from  my  awful 
experience,  but  all  of  a  sudden  I  fell  flat,  over  on  my 
side,  and  bumped  my  head  real  hard  against  the  floor. 
I  just  had  time  to  catch  one  glimpse  of  Teddy,  under  the 
bed.  He  was  looking  at  me  very  kindly  (he  has  awfully 
nice  brown  eyes)  and  then  I  heard  the  slamming  of  a 
book,  I  was  caught  up  roughly,  and  shaken  and  shaken. 

61 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

"  You  naughty  child !  Why  don't  you  behave  ?  "  cried 
Mamma  Lu,  in  a  very  angry  voice.  "  You're  the  worst 
child  I  ever  had,"  and  another  shake  and  another  and 
another.  Oh,  those  sparrows  on  the  tree !  How  surprised 
they  looked  ! 

"  I'm  going  to  give  you  a  lesson,  once  for  all,"  she 
continued ;  "  I  will  not  have  such  behavior  in  my  family." 

She  reached  out  for  a  great  big  hair-brush  that  was 
on  a  dressing-table  near  her.  "  A  hair-brush,"  I  thought, 
stupidly.  Oh!  I  was  all  dazed.  "What  does  she  want 
with  a  hair-brush.  My  hair  must  be  untidy,  and  I  guess 
she's  going  to  comb  me."     Yet  I  trembled. 

"I  will  not  have  it,"  she  went  on,  more  and  more 
excited.  "  Winnie  Campbell  knows  how  to  make  her 
children  behave.  She  told  me  how,  to-day,  and  I'm 
just  going  to  take  her  advice."  With  a  quick  move- 
ment she  laid  me  over  her  knee,  face  downward,  rolled 

up  my  chemise,  raised  the  hair-brush,  and  no,  no, 

I  cannot  repeat  the  rest,  I  cannot,  cannot. 

Maud  and  Gladys  were  sobbing  softly  when  she 
carried  me  back  to  bed,  and  there  was  a  heavy  breathing 
through  the  room ;  it  might  have  come  from  Teddy  Bear. 
I  could  not  say  a  word.  I  was  bruised  and  stiff  from 
my  ribs  to  my  knees,  it  was  such  a  large  hair-brush,  and 
she  had  used  the  bristly  side,  part  of  the  time,  and  then 

62 


She  raised  the  hair-brush-       and  no,  no,  I  cannot  repeat  the  rest, 

cannot,  cannot 


THURSDAY-SPANKED 

the  disgrace,  the  awful  shame  of  being  pressed  down 
tight  till  I  couldn't  move,  and  then  publicly  spanked 
with  a  hair-brush,  before  Maud  and  Gladys  and  Ted 
and  the  two  sparrows.  My  heart  was  broken,  yes,  my 
heart  was  broken.  I  felt  that  I  could  no  longer  look 
anyone  in  the  face,  so  dreadfully  had  I  been  disgraced. 
If  it  had  only  been  on  my  shoulder  or  on  my  face ;  any- 
where but  where  it  was,  and  before  so  many  people. 
I  lay  quite  still  in  my  misery. 

Soon  the  heavy  breathing  stopped.  Maud  and 
Gladys  ceased  their  soft  sobbing,  and  Mamma  Lu — 
cruel  Mamma  Lu — sat  in  a  corner  and  chewed  sulkily. 

I  thought   that   the   sparrows   had   flown 
away ;  there  was  no  sound  outside  of  the 
window. 

1 1  don't  care,"  she  exclaimed,  sud- 
y;    'I  don't  care  if  it  hurt  a  whole 
She's   a   bad  child,  very  disobe- 
dient."   I  disobedient,  Mam- 
ma   Lu  ?     Th 


en    w 


hat 


are 


you 


"Oh,  I  hate  this  chew- 
ing-gum ! "  she  said,  jump- 
ing up  quickly;  "  here,  you 
aughty  child !  *    She  ran  over  to 

63 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

me,  and  stuck  the  little  round  ball  on  the  palm  of  one  of 
my  hands.     The  sticky  mass — Pah ! 

"Take  good  care  of  it,  and  try  to  be  a  better  girl. 
Gladys,  get  back  to  bed.     You  are  naughty,  too.'* 

She  bundled  us  all  up  together  in  the  sheet,  looked 
at  us,  said,  "  I  don't  care,"  several  times ;  then,  half- 
crying,  "O,  I  do  wish  mamma  were  home;  but  she 
won't  be  till  to-morrow.  Oh,  mamma,  mamma  ! '  and 
rushed  out  of  the  room. 

Silence  again ;  then  suddenly,  outside,  the  voice  of  the 
older  sparrow  (ah!  then  they  hadn't  gone),  "Cheep, 
cheep  !  I  am  just  struck  speechless  with  astonishment," 
and  it  takes  a  good  bit  to  make  a  sparrow  dumb,  I  can 
tell  you.  "What  a  disappointment !  Did  I  see  and  hear 
all  right,  my  son,  or  am  I  dreaming?" 

"No,  mamma,  your  eyes  are  very  good  yet,"  an- 
swered the  young  sparrow,  sadly.  "  But  I,  myself,  can 
hardly  believe  that  the  little  girl  that  is  always  so  good 
to  us,  and  whom  we  both  admired  so,  can  have  such  a 
bad  temper ! ' 

'  I've  made  up  my  mind  that  we'll  take  nothing  more 
from  her,  son,"  said  the  mother,  very  excitedly.  "A 
child  that  can  beat  a  sweet  little  doll  in  such  a  heartless 
way  is  not  the  sort  of  little  girl  I  want  to  take  favors 
from.     I  have  some  pride,  though  I  am  in  rather  poor 

64 


THURSDAY— SPANKED 

circumstances  just  at  present.  Don't  you  agree  with 
me,  son  ?' 

"Yes,  mamma,  of  course;  but  what  if  we're  very 
hungry?"  asked  the  younger  sparrow,  weakly. 

"  We'll  be  taken  care  of.  He  that  guards  the  young 
ravens — and  you  know  Who  that  is — will  look  after  two 
little  sparrows,  too,"  was  the  answer.  "'  I've  a  good 
mind  to  go  and  tell  her  mother  how  she  behaved." 

"Oh!  please  don't,  mamma;  promise  me  that  you 
won't.  I  never  did  think  it  fair  for  birds  to  go  sneaking 
around  windows,  just  to  be  able  to  tell  mothers  what 
their  children  do.  It  seems  so  underhand,  begging  your 
pardon,  mamma.  Besides,  you  can  tell  that  she's  sorry, 
already,  and  don't  forget  how  good  she's  been  to  us. 
Promise,  promise ! ' 

'Well,  since  you  seem  so  very  anxious,  I  won't;  but 
really — "  and  then  I  heard  the  rustling  of  their  wings 
as  they  flew  away. 

Their  sympathy  was  soothing,  so  were  Maud's  and 
Gladys'  sobbing  and  Ted's  heavy  breathing.  But,  any- 
how, I'll  never  be  happy  again,  I  know  I  never  will. 
The  girls  have  been  awake  all  night ;  they've  been  lying 
close  to  me,  lovingly,  and  too  kind  to  say  a  word,  for  fear 
they  might  wound  my  feelings.  Once  Gladys  whispered, 
very  low:  "  Dolly,  did  it  hurt  very  much?"  and  a  gruff 

65 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

voice  from  beneath  the  bed  commanded:  "  Keep  quiet, 
can't  you  ?  Do  you  think  she  likes  to  be  asked  imperti- 
nent questions?"  It  was  Ted.  Poor  Gladys  shrunk 
back,  terrified,  and  hasn't  opened  her  mouth  since. 
Poor  Gladys !  I  know  she  didn't  mean  any  harm.  1 
wish  that  Mamma  Lu  had  put  the  girls  to  bed  properly. 
They're  not  used  to  lying  awake  all  night.  Poor 
Mamma  Lu !  Why  were  you  so  naughty  to-day  ? 
You've  made  me  burn  all  over  with  shame,  Mamma  Lu. 
Oh !  will  I  never  forget  ?  And  that  clammy  mass  of 
gum  is  just  paralyzing  my  hand.  All  night  long,  I'm 
repeating,  "Thursday,  the  twenty-first  of  March,  nineteen 
hundred  and  seven.     Thursday,  the  twenty-first " 


66 


CHAPTER  V 

FRIDAY— MY  LEG  IS  BROKEN  AND  MENDED 

I  suppose  I  ought  to  be  feeling  even  worse  than  I  felt 
yesterday,  considering  what  has  happened  to  me  to-day. 
But,  somehow,  in  spite  of  everything,  I'm  a  bit  easier 
in  my  mind.  I  wonder  why?  Maybe  I'm  getting  to  be 
like  Teddy,  dear  good-natured  Teddy,  who  says  that  he 
never  lets  himself  feel  discouraged  any  more. 

Now,  Dolly,  honor  bright,  are  you  really  so  awfully 
sorry  that  dreadful  accident  happened  to  you,  to-day? 
Honor  bright,  remember.  Well,  honor  bright,  I  can't 
say  that  I  am,  even  though  the  accident  may  have  very 
sad  consequences,  for  without  it  to  smoothe  the  way, 
Teddy  might  never  have  talked  to  me,  he's  so  very 
proud.  It's  so  nice  to  know  that  you've  got  a  friend,  a 
good  sensible  friend,  to  give  you  advice  once  in  a  while, 
and  to  tell  you  that  your  hair  is  naturally  curly,  just  as 
Teddy  told  me.  I  wish  Mamma  Lu  had  such  a  friend. 
I  am  sure  that  Winnie  Campbell  isn't,  or  else  she  wouldn't 
make  my  mamma  disobey  her  mamma. 

But  how  did  it  happen  that  you  and  Teddy  got  to 
speaking,    Dolly   dear  ?     How   funny !      Such    a   very 

67 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

serious  accident  has  happened  to  me,  and  yet  I  don't 
seem  to  care.  I  really  don't  understand  myself  at  all. 
Come,  answer  yourself,  Dolly. 

Well,  at  six  o'clock  this  morning,  I  was  hoping  and 
praying  that  Mamma  Lu  wouldn't  come  into  the  nursery 
before  she  went  to  school.  I  just  couldn't  bear  the  idea 
of  seeing  her;  I  trembled  at  the  thought  of  hearing  her 
say :  "  Well,  naughty  girl,  how  are  you  this  morning  ? 
Now,  be  good ! ' 

When  I  knew  it  was  too  late  for  her  to  come  in, 
I  sighed  with  relief.  I  was  just  so  tired  of  being 
scolded. 

'  I  suppose  she'll  be  in  about  half-past  two,"  I  thought. 
Well,  I  can't  help  that.     Maybe  I  won't  be  feeling  so 
bad  by  that  time,  anyhow." 

The  time  passed  very  slowly.  Maud  and  Gladys 
spoke  only  three  times,  and  then  in  whispers.  They 
were  afraid  to  say  a  word  to  me ;  they  thought  I  wanted 
to  nurse  my  sorrow  in  silence.  That's  quite  true,  and 
I  still  felt  dreadful  about  the  disgrace  and  all  that,  but 
oh  !  I  did  so  want  to  speak,  just  a  little.  And  I  couldn't, 
because  it  wouldn't  have  looked  at  all  proper  for  me, 
who  had  suffered  so  much,  to  begin  talking  about 
every-day  matters  without  being  coaxed  into  conver- 
sation. 

68 


FRIDAY— MY  LEG  IS  BROKEN  AND  MENDED 

"  Maybe  we  can  just  begin  talking  naturally,  when 
Mamma  Lu  comes  in  again,"  I  thought.  "  If  only  she 
won't  be  cruel  to  me  again ! ' 

Two  o'clock  passed.  I  looked  anxiously  at  the  door, 
half  eager  for  her  to  come,  half  afraid.  Three  o'clock, 
four  o'clock — once  I  heard  the  trotting  of  her  little  feet 
in  the  hall,  a  pause  before  the  nursery  door,  and  then  a 
frantic  rush.  No  Mamma  Lu  yet !  Five  o'clock,  six 
o'clock — how  could  Maud  and  Gladys  lie  there  so  per- 
fectly unconcerned  when  Mamma  Lu  might  never  come 
back  to  us  any  more,  and  so  good  as  she  had  been  to 
them,  too  }  Maybe  they  weren't  unconcerned,  maybe 
they  were  just  trying  hard  not  to  reproach  me,  because 
it  was  through  me — 

When  it  was  almost  dark,  the  nurse  came  in  to  light 
the  gas.  Mamma  Lu  was  with  her.  Just  before  they 
went  out,  she  gave  us  one  quick  glance,  then  turned 
her  head  away.     Oh,  but  I  was  frightened ! 

"  She'll  never  come  back  again,  I  know  it!'  I  cried 
out  loud.  '  I  guess  it  was  naughty  of  me  to  fall  off  my 
chair.  Oh,  Mamma  Lu,  please  come  back !  don't  be 
cross  at  Maud  and  Gladys,  anyhow;  they  haven't  done 
anything  wrong.  Mamma  Lu !  Mamma  Lu ! '  I 
screamed  at  the  top  of  my  voice,  but  of  course  she 
couldn't  hear  me. 

69 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

Then,  oh  dear !  (he  always  knows  exactly  what  to 
say  and  when  to  say  it)  I  heard  that  dear  gruff  voice 
from  under  the  bed,  "Don't  worry!  She'll  come  back, 
before  bedtime  even."  I  wonder  what  the  girls  thought 
of  that ;  I  was  the  only  one  he  had  ever  said  a  word  to. 
I  nudged  Maud,  and  then  I  whispered,  "Thank  you  ever 
so  much.  Do  you  really  think  so?'  Of  course,  I 
didn't  get  an  answer.  Ted  doesn't  like  unnecessary 
questions. 

Just  before  going  to  bed,  exactly  as  he  said,  Mamma 
Lu  came  into  the  nursery.  She  was  half  undressed,  her 
shoes  were  in  one  hand,  and  her  dress  in 
the  other. 

"  I  just  couldn't  go  to  bed  without  see- 
ing how  you  are,"  she  whispered  to  me, 
very  low.  "  Dolly,  are  you  cross  at  me  ? 
Look,  I've  brought  you  a  present." 

She  drew  off  my  old  pink  ribbon,  and 
pinned  a  pretty  blue  bow  in  my  hair,  nat- 
urally curly.  She  lifted  me  very  carefully 
out  of  bed,  and  just  as  I  was  safe  in  her 
arms,  I  felt  the  queerest  kind  of  pulling 
pain  in  my  left  knee-joint.  Something 
dropped  with  a  clatter  to  the  floor,  and 
my  left  leg  felt  sort  of  light  and  airy. 

70 


FRIDAY— MY  LEG  IS  BROKEN  AND  MENDED 


'What  was  that?"  asked  Mamma  Lu,  anxiously, 
and  then  she  gave  a  scream.  I  peeped  down.  Horrors ! 
there  was  my  leg,  from  the  knee  down, 
lying  just  at  Mamma  Lu's  feet.  At  that 
terrifying  sight,  I  completely  lost  control  of 
myself;  really,  I  had  an  excuse  in  my 
dreadful  experience  of  the  day  before,  and 
sent  out  shriek  after  shriek. 

First    a    broken    heart,    and    now    a 
broken  leg.     I  screamed,  " Oh !  oh!  oh!' 
and  Maud  and  Gladys  joined  me  at  the 
top  of  their  voices,  and  the  top  of  their 
voices  is  very  high  up.     "A  broken  leg ! 
Oh!  oh!  oh!'    and  Teddy  under  the  bed 
growled  again  and  again,  in  such  a  deep, 
angry  voice,   "A   broken   leg!     Poor  little 
girl!     Well,  isn't  that  a  shame!' 

The  combination  was  simply  deafening, 
even  though  I  knew  that  little  girls'  ears  are 
not  nearly  delicate  enough  to  hear  the  loudest  noises 
that  dolls  make ;  yet  I  was  rather  surprised  that  Mamma 
Lu  didn't  seem  to  hear  a  sound.  I'd  have  just  loved 
her  to  know  how  much  my  friends  care  for  me. 
Perhaps  it  was  because  she  was  so  dreadfully  scared 
and  excited.     She  set  me  down  on  the  floor,  right  next 

71 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 


to  that  dreadful  hair-brush,  still  lying  just  where  she  had 
thrown  it  yesterday  after — after — oh !  don't  let  me  think 
of  it,  and  drew  her  slippers  on  in  a  flash. 

"  I've  got  to  go  this  minute  and  get  my  mamma," 
she  was  muttering  through  her  teeth,  as  she  tugged  at  her 
shoestring.  'I  know  I've  done  it;  it's  my  fault,  because 
of  what  I  did  yesterday." 

I  couldn't  see  her,  but  Maud  and  Gladys,  who  had 
stopped  screaming,  and  were  sitting  up  in  bed,  looking 
on,  told  me  afterwards  that  Mamma  Lu's  expression  at 
the  time  was  pitiful.  Her  face  was 
quite  white,  her  teeth 
were  clinched  tight  to- 
gether, and  she  was 
swallowing  all  the  time. 
I  heard  her  rush  out  of 
the  room,  and  the  next 
thing  I  knew  (I  was  a 
little  dizzy,  I  suppose, 
and  not  quite  clear  as  to 
what  was  happening)  I 
was  resting  comfortably 
in  Grandma  Ellis's  arms, 
and  Mamma  Lu  was 
standing  in  front  of  me, 

72 


She  set  me  down  on  the  floor,  and  drew  on  her  slippers  in  a  flash 


FRIDAY— MY  LEG  IS  BROKEN  AND  MENDED 

looking  up  into  her  mother's  face  with  the  most  implor- 
ing expression,  her  lips  pressed  tight  together,  her  eyes 
strained  and  full  of  tears.  In  her  right  hand  she  was 
holding  up  my  poor  leg.  It  certainly  gives  you  the 
queerest  kind  of  feeling  to  see  part  of  your  leg  held  up 
in  another  person's  hand. 

"  I'll  do  my  best,  Lucy,"  Grandma  Ellis  was  saying, 
doubtfully,  "  but — "  and  then  Mamma  Lu  interrupted  her 
wildly : 

1  Mamma !  Mamma !  You  must  cure  her,  you 
must,  you  must,  or  I'd  never  speak  to  myself  again, 
never,  never!  It's  all  my  fault;  oh,  mamma,  you  don't 
know!"  and  poor  Mamma  Lu  burst  into  great  loud  sobs. 

"Hush,  dear,"  said  Grandma  Ellis,  soothingly, 
"  Your  fault?     Did  you  let  her  drop ?" 

'Oh,  no,  no,  no!  I  was  so  naughty,  yesterday. 
Look,  mamma" — she  picked  up  that  mean  brush,  and 
held  it  out  despairingly — "  I  spanked  her,  all  for  nothing, 
so  hard  with  this.  And  mamma" — she  wrenched  off  the 
sticky  ball  of  gum  that  had  been  paralyzing  my  hand — 
'I'd  been  chewing  chewing-gum,  though  you  told  me 
not  to,  and  I  knew  I  was  doing  wrong,  and  I  was  so 
cranky.  I  spanked  and  spanked  and  just  spanked  !  I 
know  I  broke  her  leg,  I  just  know  I  did.  Oh,  I'm  so 
wicked!     Mamma,  mamma!" 

73 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

Poor  Mamma  Lu !  It  was  very  sad  to  hear  her  sob 
so  bitterly,  and  all  because  of  me.  I  half  expected 
Grandma  Ellis  to  scold  me  for  making  her  Lu  so  sad, 
but  instead  she  smoothed  back  my  hair  with  the  gentlest 
hand,  and  said,  very  sorrowfully  : 

"Your  poor  dolly!  Lucy,  how  could  you  be  so 
cruel,  and  so  disobedient,  too !  Go  to  your  room  at 
once;  I  don't  want  you  in  here  while  I'm  bandaging 
Dolly,  you've  been  too  naughty.  When  you've  said 
your  prayers  and  are  in  bed,  I'll  come  in  to  speak  to 
you.     Now,  go  at  once." 

"Mamma!'  cried  Mamma  Lu,  imploringly,  as  she 
gave  one  last  look  at  me,  then,  sobbing,  left  the  room. 

The  girls'  bed  was  just  buzzing  with  their  excited 
whispering. 

4 1  wonder  if  she'll  be  whipped  ?"  whispered  Gladys, 
busily;  "  I'm  sure  she  deserves  a  whipping." 

1  Whip  her !     Whip  my  pretty  mamma !     Oh,  girls !" 
I  trembled  all  over  at  the  thought. 

"  No,"  said  Maud.  Did  her  voice  sound  regretful,  or 
was  I  imagining  things?  "  Grandma  Ellis  isn't  the  whip- 
ping kind ;  she'll  only  give  her  a  talking-to.  I  hope  it 
will  do  her  some  good." 

*  In  my  opinion,"  I  said,  rather  sharply,  too,  because 
Grandma    Ellis  was   just  tightening  a  bandage,  and  it 

74 


FRIDAY— MY  LEG  IS  BROKEN 

hurt,  "  I  think  that  she  has  said  quite 
enough,  already.  She  has  been  quite 
strict.  Poor  Mamma  Lu!  crying  in 
there,  all  alone.  I  wish  Grandma  Ellis 
would  hurry  and  comfort  her.** 

There  was  silence  for  a  second, 
then,  from  under  the  bed,  came  that 
dear,  gruff  voice  again,  "  Good  for 
you,  little  girl?'*  Isn't  he  awful?  I 
was  so  embarrassed;  but  it  was 
sweet  of  him,  anyhow.  After  that  I 
really  couldn't  feel  so  very  very  sad 
about  the  loss  of  my  leg,  and  be- 
sides I  knew  that  Grandma  Ellis 
was  doing  her  best,  with  linen 
and  lots  of  mucilage,  to  make  me 
well  again.  When  she  had  finished, 
she  carried  me  tenderly  over  to  my  bed, 
and  tucked  me  in  at  the  foot.  "  I  do  hope  she  won't 
put  us  to  sleep  now;  we've  got  so  much  to  talk  about," 
cried  Gladys;  but  before  the  words  were  well  out  of 
her  mouth,  both  she  and  Maud  were  fast  asleep.  There 
certainly  are  lots  of  inconveniences  in  being  a  sleeping 
doll!  I  felt  very  comfortable,  and  looked  thankfully 
into    Grandma    Ellis's    eyes    (beautiful    eyes,    just    like 

75 


THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 


Mamma  Lu's),  as  she  leaned 
over  us. 

"You  little  things,"  she  mur- 
mured, very  tenderly.     "  How- 
real   you  were  to   me,  once; 
and  not  so  very  long  ago. 
Now  I  have  my  own  naughty 
little  doll,  in  the  next  room, 
to    preach    a    sermon    to — 
poor  little  Lu !  I'll  say  '  good- 
night' to  you  for  her." 

She  glanced  around  the 
room,  as  if  to  make  sure  that 
no  one  was  looking,  then  bent 
down  and  kissed  first  Gladys, 
then  Maud,  then  me,  on  the 
forehead.     Oh,   how   sorry    I 


FRIDAY— MY  LEG  IS  BROKEN  AND  MENDED 

was  that  they  weren't  awake,  to  appreciate  it — a  real 
lady's  kiss,  think  of  that !  She  straightened  herself,  half 
laughing,  then  stooped  again. 

"Something  under  the  bed — what  is  it,  I  wonder?" 
I  heard  her  murmur,  and  when  I  looked  up  she  was 
holding  Teddy  in  her  arms. 

"You  poor  little  fellow!'  she  said,  smoothing  his 
pink  nose  (it  was  made  of  velvet,  I  found  out  later); 
"all  by  yourself  under  the  bed.  There!"  and  she 
placed  him  gently  on  the  quilt,  right  next  to  ME.  "  Now, 
good-night,  all  of  you!'  She  waved  her  hand  to  us, 
laughingly,  and  then  there  was  the  sweetest  expression 
in  her  blue  eyes.  No,  Grandma  Ellis,  I  wasn't  afraid  ; 
I  could  tell  that  you  wouldn't  be  too  strict  with 
Mamma  Lu. 

The  door  closed  behind  her.  "Now,  who's  going 
to  speak  first?'1  I  wondered,  very  much  excited,  I 
think,  and  was  just  about  to  breathe,  "How  do  you 
do,  Teddy?"  when  he  said,  with  an  admiring  growl, 
'A  sweet  lady,  that,"  and,  of  course,  the  ice  was 
broken.  No,  I  cannot  say  that  I  regret  my  accident. 
We've  had  a  delightful  talk  and  I've  a  dear  good  friend. 
And  Teddy  isn't  one  to  make  friends  with  everybody, 
either.  For  instance,  he's  told  me  that  he  never  will  be 
able  to  make  up  with  Maud  and  Gladys.    "  Too  stuck-up, 

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THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 


they  are,  for  me,"  he  said.  "  I  don't  like  that  kind.** 
I  tried  to  tell  him  that  he  was  mistaken,  that  they  were 
dear,  sweet  girls,  and  very  much  interested  in  him;  but 
he  just  said,  "  No,  no!"  and  wouldn't  listen.  I'm  afraid 
they  must  have  said  something  slighting  about  him,  when 
he  first  came.  I  do  believe  he's  a  little  obstinate  and 
proud;  but  he  has  no  other  faults,  and  down  deep  in 
my  heart,  though  I  know  it's  selfish,  I  don't  mind  very 

much  that  he  doesn't  care  for 
Maud  and  Gladys.  They've 
been  petted  and  kissed  and 
happy  all  their  lives ; 
they've  never  been 
scolded  and  whipped, 
and  had  accidents  before 
they  were  complete,  and 
broken  legs !  and  I  can't 
help  thinking  that  it  would  be  only  fair  for  somebody 
to  like  me,  too. 

Ted  said  that  he  never  would  answer  when  I  called, 
because  he  thought  that  I  was  most  likely  proud  and 
vain,  like  Maud  and  Gladys,  and  was  only  making  fun 
of  him.  "They're  not  a  bit,  you  naughty  boy,"  I  told 
him,  very  glad  he  didn't  know  the  rag  dolls.  He'd 
have  been  crazy  over  them,  they're  so  jolly;  and  I  do 
78 


FRIDAY— MY  LEG  IS  BROKEN  AND  MENDED 

want  him  to  like  me  best.  When  he  saw  that  Mamma 
Lu  seemed  very  stern  to  me,  he  just  got  interested.  He 
doesn't  know,  to  this  day,  why  Mamma  Lu  locked  him 
in  the  trunk.  "Just  a  caprice,*'  he  said.  Sometimes 
his  language  is  beautiful.  I  was  right.  He  does  know 
what  becomes  of  Mamma  Lu's  broken-down  children. 
I  was  asking  him  about  the  trunk,  when  he  told  me. 

"  It's  an  awful  place,  that  trunk  is,"  he  said.  "  I  was 
sick  for  a  week  when  I  got  there.  The  sights  you  see 
and  the  sad  stories  you  hear  are  enough  to  make  your 
fur  stand  on  end." 

"Tell  me  some,"  I  breathed  eagerly;  "I  love  to  hear 
sad  stories." 

"  No,  no,  Dolly,  I  won't.  I  don't  believe  in  making 
girls  sad.  But  you  can  imagine !  In  that  trunk,"  and 
his  deep  voice  chilled  me,  "  lie  the  legs  and  heads  and 
arms  of  all  the  dolls  that  Mamma  Lu  has  ever  had." 

'Oh,"  I  cried,  'now  I  know!  Then  that's  what 
becomes  of  them."  A  sudden  fear  seized  me.  Maybe, 
to-morrow,  if  my  leg  won't  stick  on,  Mamma  Lu  will 
take  me  away  from  everybody  I  love  and —  But  I 
wouldn't  let  Teddy  see  what  a  coward  I  am. 

'Did  you  see  anything  of  an  all-china  doll  there?"  I 
asked.  I  was  always  interested  in  that  china  doll,  I 
suppose  because  she  was  so  delicate. 

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THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

"There  was  a  little  piece  of  china  stuck  right  in  a 
corner,"  he  said.  "The  pieces  near  it  said  it  used  to  be 
part  of  a  doll ;  but  it  never  spoke,  so  I'm  not  certain. 
Don't  think  of  it  any  more,  Dolly;  I'm  rather  sorry  I 
told  you.*' 

"Oh,  it  doesn't  bother  me,"  I  answered,  cheerfully. 
"Poor  things!  They  must  miss  you  like  anything,"  and 
we  changed  the  subject.  But  all  night  through,  in  the 
pauses  of  our  conversation,  and  now,  near  morning, 
while  Teddy's  lying  perfectly  quiet,  next  to  me,  as  he's 
been  doing  for  the  last  half-hour,  this  thought,  flashing 
across  my  mind,  makes  me  shiver : 

"  Perhaps  to-morrow,  at  this  time,  you'll  be  locked  up 
in  the  trunk,  away  from  Gladys  and  Maud  and  Teddy, 
with  only  odds  and  ends  of  dolls  for  your  companions. 
Poor,  poor  doll  that  you  are !     Poor,  poor  Dolly ! ' 


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CHAPTER  VI 

SATURDAY  MORNING— MY  MAMMA  LOVES  ME 

"  Cheep !  Cheep  !"  "  So  you  re  back  again,  are  you, 
you  darlings?  Just  peep  through  the  window,  and  see 
where  I  am !  Where  else,  but  in  Mamma  Lu's  arms  ? 
Ha,  ha!  Now  what  do  you  think  of  that?  And  I've 
been  here  for  over  fifteen  minutes,  too.      Oh,  but  I'm 

happy ! 

"Are  you  angry  at  Mamma  Lu  yet,  little  sparrows? 
Please  don't  be.  See  how  happy  she's  made  me! 
And  Teddy'll  tell  you  how  sweet  she  is.  There's 
Teddy— that  handsome  young  bear  in  the  stylish  pink 
overcoat.  Now  Teddy,  you  know  it's  stylish.  Never 
seen  him  before?  He's  my  very,  very  best  friend.  I 
hope  Maud  and  Gladys  haven't  heard  me." 

There !  Mamma  Lu  is  hiding  my  face  under  her 
chin,  just  the  way  I  used  to  want  her  too,  so  I  can't  see 
those  cute  sparrows  any  more,  to  tell  them  how  happy 
I  am.     But  I  can  tell  myself,  over  and  over  again. 

I  was  afraid  all  last  night  that  I'd  be  put  in  that 
horrid  box,  wasn't  I?  Oh,  what  a  joke!  Instead  of 
that,  ha,  ha!    early  this  morning   Mamma  Lu,  still  in 

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THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 


her  nighty,  came  running  into  my  room,  picked  me  up  in 
her  arms,  and  carried  me  off  to  her  own  dear,  darling 
bed.  Oh,  so  warm  and  comfy;  and  lying  there  on 
her  pillow,  close  to  her,  she  told  me  the  sweetest 
things !  Only  Teddy  Bear  is  going  to  know  what  they 
are;  only  Teddy  Bear.  I'll  tell  him  to-night,  when  the 
girls  are  asleep  and  can't  hear. 

"  You  poor  little  angel,"  she  said ;  "  I've  been  so 
cruel  to  you,  so  cruel.  I  don't  see  how  you  can  forgive 
me,  but  mamma  says  maybe  you  will.  I  told  mamma 
everything  last  night.  Oh,  how  naughty  I  was  to  dis- 
>bey  her !  I'll  never,  never  chew  gum  again 
f  I  live  to  be  two  million  years  old.  And 
'm  never  going  to  scold  anybody  any  more, 
and  I'll  never  be  saucy  to  nurse  again, 
lamma  just    explained  to  me,  last 

jht,  how  cruel  and 

ad  tempered  I've 

been  to  scold 

you    all   week 

for     nothing  —  for 

nothing,    you    poor 

baby!     She  says    it 

shows  just  as  much 

cruelty     to     scold 


Oh,  If  I  could  only  have  talked  at  that  moment! 


SATURDAY— MY  MAMMA  LOVES  ME 

things  that  don't  understand  as  to  scold  things  that  do. 
And  you  do  understand ;  I'm  sure  you  do,  you  poor  dar- 
ling ! '  (Oh,  if  I  could  only  have  talked  at  that  moment !) 
"  I've  been  mean  to  Teddy  Bear  too,  for  no  reason  at 
all;  but  I'm  just  going  to  change  all  around.  But,  Dolly, 
honest,  I  didn't  mean  to  be  so  nasty.  I  was  just  making 
believe  half  the  time ;  I  really  was. 

"How's  your  poor,  poor  leg,  you  angel?  Does  it 
pain  you  very  much?  And  Dolly,  answer  me  just  this 
once,  and  I'll  never  mention  it  any  more.  Did  I  hurt 
you  very  much  Thursday — you  know  when  ?  Mamma 
asked  me  last  night  how  I  would  feel  if  she  did  it  to 
me,  and  then  I  just  understood  how  awfully  cruel  I'd 
been.  Oh,  Dolly,  I'm  so  sorry  and  ashamed !  It's  just 
a  week  since  I've  had  you,  and  a  mighty  ugly  week  it's 
been  for  you ;  but  I'll  make  up  to  you  for  it.  Honor 
bright,  I  will.  You're  going  to  stay  with  me  till  I  get 
real  grown  up.  I'll  take  such  care  of  you,  and  when  I 
am  an  old,  old  lady,  I'll  play  with  you,  just  as  much 
as  now. 

'*  Poor  Dolly !  You  dare  never  have  a  bath,  mamma 
says.  The  water  might  open  your  bandages,  and  it's 
all  my  fault.  Aren't  you  sorry?"  Oh,  dreadfully!  If 
I'd  have  been  one  of  those  new-fashioned  spring-dolls, 
I'm  sure  I'd  have  jumped  for  joy. 

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THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

"  I  haven't  given  you  a  name  yet,  have  I  ?  Oh,  I've 
been  cruel  to  you!  Never  mind,  dear,  I'll  make  up  for 
it.  I'll  give  you  my  mamma's  name — the  prettiest  name 
that  ever  lived.  You're  my  dear,  darling  daughter 
Mary!" 

'  Mary,"  I  repeated,  "  Mary."  To  be  quite  frank,  I 
must  say  I  was  a  little  disappointed.  I  would  have  pre- 
ferred Rosamond,  or  Gwendolyn — some  rich,  high- 
sounding  name  like  that.  "Mary"  does  seem  to  me  so 
very  plain ;  but,  of  course,  my  mamma  knows  best,  and 
it's  a  great  compliment  to  be  named  after  Grandma 
Ellis.  Anyhow,  Teddy  told  me,  when  I  was  back  in 
bed,  while  Mamma  Lu  was  getting  dressed  and  eating 
breakfast,  that  he  has  never  heard  a  prettier  name  than 
Mary ;  and  Maud  and  Gladys  (Mamma  Lu  woke  them 
when  she  took  me  out  of  bed)  oh!  didn't  they  look 
astonished  and  say  it  just  suits  me.  So  I'm  quite 
satisfied. 

Ted  and  the  girls  didn't  speak  while  I  was  out  of  the 
room ;  but  when  I  got  back,  we  all  got  real  chummy. 
Ted  can  be  so  very  polite  when  he  wants  to,  and  the 
girls  are  sweet. 

Though  it's  naughty  of  me  to  wish  it,  I  do  hope  that 
Ted  keeps  on  liking  me  best,  for  a  time  anyhow,  till  I 
get  real  used  to  being  loved. 

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MAMMA  LOVES  ME 

phow,  here  I  am  on  Mamma 
ip,  perfectly,  perfectly  happy. 
>reakfast,  she  washed  my  face 
carefully  (without  soap)  and 
nt  the  prettiest  little  flowered 
nighty ' '  on  me. 

"  My  poor  sick  child/'  she 
said;  "you  have   such  beau- 
tiful eyes,  too,"  and  then  she 
kissed  my  cheeks  till  Gladys 
cried,  "  You'll  be  as  white  as 
a  sheet,  soon."     I  do  hope 
she  isn't  jealous. 

Mamma  Lu  has  been 
very  sweet  to  Ted,  too;  and  I'm  so  glad.  She 
smoothed  his  velvet  nose  in  the  friendliest  way,  just 
before  she  took  me  on  her  lap  and  began  to  rock 
me.  There's  a  beautiful  artificial  plant  on  the  win- 
dow-sill, with  two  gorgeous  red  flowers.  "  You're  my 
poor  sick  child,"  said  Mamma  Lu  when  she  put  it 
up  there,  "and  you  must  have  flowers."  Gladys  and 
Maud  say  that  she  uses  the  plant  sometimes  as  a  center- 
piece when  she  has  big  tea-parties,  in  winter.  Oh  my 
dear  mamma  !  How  about  last  Tuesday's  tea-party,  and 
the  cough  medicine,  eh  ?     But  no  more  of  that ;  it's  not 

85 


SATURDAY— MY  MAMMA  LOVES  ME 

nice  of  me  to  think  of  it,  and  oh,  Mamma  Lu  has 
promised  me  that  I  can  sleep  with  her  every  single  night, 
as  soon  as  my  bandage  sticks  tight !  Mamma  Lu  just 
said  to  me,  "  I  do  believe  you're  going  to  be  my  favorite 
child,  Mary,"  and  for  a  second  my  heart  stood  still  with 
delight  (I  think  it  must  have  got  patched  up  somehow, 
in  the  night).  Then  I  remembered,  and  I  cried  out 
loud: 

"  No,  Mamma  Lu,  please  don't  say  so !  That's  too 
much,  and  it  would'nt  be  fair  to  Gladys  and  Maud  and 
Ted.  I  don't  want  anybody  ever  to  feel  as  lonely  as  I 
have  felt  on  account  of  my  Mamma  Lu.  Please  don't 
forget  about  Maud  and  Gladys  and  Ted."  I  hope  they 
didn't  hear  her;  I'm  sure  she  didn't  mean  it.  She's 
going  to  love  us  all,  all,  all ! 

I  can  hear  the  sparrows  chirping  in  a  duet. 

"  That's  what  we  like  to  see — just  such  a  pretty  family 
scene.  We  are  sure  that  we  were  mistaken  last  Thurs- 
day, and  that  this  little  girl  before  us  is  still  the  little  girl 
we  admire.  Please,  young  Lucy,  don't  forget  us ;  Spring 
will  soon  be  here,  and  then  we'll  sing  for  you  our 
sweetest,  to  show  our  appreciation  of  any  little  favors. 
There's  a  cracker  on  that  table,  see  it  ?  which  we  would 
thankfully  accept.  Please  don't  forget  us,  the  Spring 
will  soon  be  here."     You  cute  little  sparrows ! 

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THE  DIARY  OF  A  BIRTHDAY  DOLL 

Maud  and  Gladys  are  smiling  at  me  from  the  bed, 
as  I  go  rocking  up  and  down,  up  and  down.  Teddy  is 
making  the  most  comical  jokes  at  me;  I'm  so  afraid  I'll 
laugh  out  loud.  My  mamma  loves  me  ;  she's  whispering 
so  into  my  ear,  this  very  second.  Oh,  everybody  is  just 
sweet,  and  I'm  perfectly,  perfectly  happy ! 


88 


